Giving is Good
Does the employee get blackballed, demoted, or, even, fired? Does the donor get ignored? Does the colleague get chastised? Or, is the response a simple, authentic, “why are you thinking that way?” Or, “Tell me more about your perspective?” Or, “Can you help me understand your response?” The best leaders, the best advancement officers, the…
“Step right up, ladies, gentleman, and boys and girls of all ages!” This is the well-known patter of the old-fashioned carnival barker – or, as those who work in this field preferred to be called, “carnival talkers.” But underneath the slick, shouting, and staccato speech patterns recognized by most anyone who has attended a circus…
Your organizational strategic plan shouldn’t be. Your annual giving solicitation plan shouldn’t be. Your major gifts officer metrics program shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t create plans with the intent that they will change. Instead, we should do the hard work up front to identify the most impactful priorities, discern the most appropriate and inspiring goals for…
Everyone wants to “raise more money.” But few people (at least that I’m aware of), speak of wanting to “scale generosity.” There is a difference. We can raise more money through a gimmick or activity that goes viral. Recall the ALS Association’s Ice Water Bucket Challenge, which is celebrating a 10-year anniversary this summer. We…
Finding agreeable voices can feel affirming. Whether from our team members, from our supervisors, or from donors. We believe in our proposed strategy to grow the number of consecutive year givers and now 3 other colleagues agree with us. We are convinced that our proposed tactic to raise more major gifts will work and now…
Thinking in terms of “formulas” for advancement work is akin to thinking that there is (or should be) a “formula” for the relationships within our families or our close friend groups. When we think of our personal relationships, we easily recognize that there is no helpful formula or equation that works for all of these…
Show someone a peer-reviewed, published study that contradicts their worldview and you might just hear, “those studies are all biased.” Share with someone recent data that suggests there are macro-level trends emerging that challenge their beliefs and you might just hear, “the organization that compiled that data is untrustworthy.” Present someone with statistics that suggest…
“Let’s get the team together and spend some time brainstorming new initiatives for the coming year.” This type of statement and planning is done ubiquitously in our work. Advancement professionals brainstorm a lot. But, it turns out, the concept of getting groups of people together to creatively come up with new ideas – i.e., “brainstorming”…
If our goal is for more donors to increase their support for our cause, we have to start by asking how will we invite them to give. If our goal is to have 100 people show up at our event, we have to start by asking how will we invite them to attend. If our…
When a donor makes a gift to support our mission, we think we are receiving it. Or, we think our students, or our patients, or our programs, or our participants, are receiving the gift. We aren’t and they aren’t. Not really. The real recipient of the gift is the donor who gave. As human beings…