Giving is Good
Why do donors make major gifts to organization X and not organization Z? If our organization isn’t receiving as many major gifts as we would like, we may tend to believe it is because other organizations are bigger, have larger budgets, have more contacts, are more well-known, or are just plain lucky. The truth, though,…
How do you create the most effective messages to acquire donors? Whether it is direct mail, an e-blast, or phonathon script, how do you construct the key phrases designed to encourage your prospects to become donors? From my experience, many organizations use the “WUTLY” approach (We Used This Last Year). They tweak a phrase here…
Over the years I’ve collected some less-than-inspiring statements and sayings from a variety of leaders and organizations. In most instances, all of the folks and organizations were well intentioned. But, in each instance they used phrases – either verbally or in correspondence – which turned off donors. Below are some of those phrases, along with…
Assumptions are funny. Many times we don’t even know we have them and yet they provide us with fundamental models on how we view and respond to the world. Watch this quick video link of Derek Sivers from the TED Conference: What are the assumptions that your organization holds about its donors? Here are…
Daniel Pink, in his new book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” suggests that motivating people with the stick and carrot approach (i.e., you reach the goal and you’ll get a bonus, for instance), is an approach which actually squelches creativity and results in less productivity for many 21st Century work environments. Instead,…
I’m pretty sure there are more than, “two kinds of people in the world,” as the old saying goes. However, a lot of folk in development and leadership positions in non-profits can be divided up into two groups: the do-ers and the be-ers. “Do-ers” are those individual who achieve results. They want to do something….
I may not know your organization specifically, but I know something about your donors: The top donors to your organization give to other organizations as well. They have various philanthropic interests. And with well over 1.5 million non-profits registered in 2009 (an staggering increase of 33% in the last decade), there is more competition for…
How would others describe you – as a busy person, or as a person who is able to get donors to respond generously? There are many busy people – in fact, most everyone these days is busy. But there are only a few people who encourage donors well. Getting donors to “yes” more often has…
phi-lead’thro-pist n. – an unusually effective leader in the field of philanthropy. In my last blog entry I wrote about the integration of leadership and philanthropy, accenting several studies which suggested characteristics of effective leaders. Based on those characteristics, I invite you to think with me about the traits that characterize phileadthropists – those effective…
I have been thinking for a long while about the shared characteristics between effective leaders and effective development professionals. In fact, last summer I expressed a few early thoughts on the topic. Below are observations of effective leadership characteristics from 4 separate research teams. As you read each characteristic, think about how each applies to…