Giving is Good
Scenario: A major gift officer has set up a Discovery visit with a prospective major gift donor. This prospect either has never given to your institution or she has given infrequently and modestly to annual appeals or giving days (i.e. all gifts well under $1,000). During the Discovery visit, the gift officer realizes that the…
Your Board wants you to raise more money. Your boss wants more unrestricted gift income. Your annual plan calls for an increase in new donors. Name the area of focus. Name the goal. It most likely involves an increase. It’s not uncommon for advancement professionals push back on those increased goals. “How can we do more?” …
Over the last decade, the Giving USA Foundation reports that total charitable giving in the U.S. rose by 58% ($298.42 billion was given back in 2011 and $471.44 billion was given in 2020). Over that same period, giving specifically in support of the environment, animals, and conservation efforts increased by an impressive 107% (from…
What is this event designed to accomplish for our institution? Why is this meeting being called? What are we attempting to achieve with our Giving Day? What is the outcome we are seeking with this donor visit? What message are wanting this edition of our magazine to deliver? What narrative about our progress do we…
The story you choose for your next direct mail solicitation won’t be perfect. . . and you’ll still raise money. The picture you choose for your next magazine cover won’t be perfect. . . and people will still read the story. The major gift proposal you put together for the donor won’t be perfect….
When we wear the bib at work, we are acting in service to ourselves. We are looking out for ourselves, our comfort, our security. Our wants, needs, and interests. When we wear the apron at work, we are acting in service to others. We are looking out for our colleagues, our team, our institutions. …
Most donors – most people – appreciate feeling special. Most folk enjoy feeling admired, important, distinguished, and significant. People, generally, respond favorably to feeling valued. On the other hand, almost no one likes to feel targeted. To feel like they are the only one being asked. Or that they are the first one being…
I listened recently to an experienced and capable gift officer talk about how good she feels when a donor makes a gift “for a meaningful purpose.” “What does that mean, exactly?” I asked. “It means,” she continued, “that I have to be convinced that the mission or purpose of the organization I raise money for…
American philosopher, Josiah Royce, coined the term, “beloved community,” early in the 1900s. But it wasn’t until the late 1950s that the phrase became more well known. In his 1957 speech, Birth of a New Nation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “the aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community.” The concept…
If you watched Leonardo DiCaprio portray Jordan Belfort in the 2013 film, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” you probably recall the scene in which DiCaprio’s Belfort asks the stockbrokers on his team to, “sell me this pen!” In the movie, the stated purpose of this exercise was for the stockbrokers to hone their sales pitches…