Giving is Good
Because so much of our work is counted or can be counted, advancement folk often ask this question first. How many donors should we send this solicitation to? How many donor calls should we make so that we end the year strong? How many gifts will make this giving day successful? A far better question…
Instead of simply saying these phrases each day, what if we made the effort to mean these phrases each day? “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” “How are you?” “Good morning.” “I’m sorry.” “I appreciate you.” “See you tomorrow.” If we made a habit of saying these common, everyday phrases animated by their real meaning: advancement team…
Productive annual giving messaging often gets changed too quickly because the type of message feels “the same” and change feels like progress. Example: “Let’s not use a student scholarship story for our end of calendar year direct mail annual fund letter since we used a student story in the last annual fund letter.” Similarly, productive…
Turns out, this statement is right. “No one cares that your organization needs more money.” “No one cares that your campaign is under goal.” “No one cares that your development program is understaffed and overworked.” But. . . “A lot of people care about your mission.” “A lot of people care about those you serve.”…
Three fundamental life lessons that humans must learn in order to lead productive and satisfying lives (they build on each other in paradoxical ways): 1. “It’s not about me.” 2. “While it’s not about me, I end up with more when I give than when I receive.” 3. “While I end up with more when…
In the stock market investing world, two fundamental approaches hold court: Value Investing and Growth Investing. Value investing suggests that investors pay attention to the stock price of a company and compare that price to what they believe is the actual value of the company. If the current stock price is low compared to the…
What if the annual fund wasn’t viewed as “operational support?” What if the annual fund wasn’t viewed as the “black hole of giving?” What if the annual fund wasn’t viewed as being “too general” to be marketable? What if, instead, the annual fund was viewed as a critical and compelling part of your institution? And…
Since I don’t conduct technology-focused research and I’m not in the Artificial Intelligence market in any significant way, my best and most honest answer to this question is, “I don’t know.” But I’m also not convinced that this should be a concern for me. Here’s a quick framework to prioritize our thinking about future developments:…
In our advancement work, we consistently focus on the process of and decisions surrounding giving. We facilitate giving and gifts from donors. We guide donors on how their gifts might make the biggest difference that is meaningful to them. We thank donors for giving. Clearly, the process and the decisions involved with giving are important…
Facts don’t motivate people. Taglines don’t motivate people. Stories motivate people. People don’t create understanding from facts or taglines. People create understanding from stories. And yet, advancement folk spend significant time and effort collecting and sharing facts and wordsmithing pithy taglines – all with the hope that people will stitch together the motivational story for…