Major Gifts

I think I’m changing my language on how a major gift officer’s approach with a donor who is difficult to engage should be. For years, both Richard and I have said you should be patient, yet persistent with a donor… eventually you will come together...

It is important to start right in a major gift program as a new major gift officer. And starting with donors, program and back office familiarization is the key. Everything else, while important, is a distraction, in my opinion...

17 years ago, I was working at one of the top direct-marketing fundraising agencies in the country. We had just landed a brand-new client, and I was in charge of leading the team to work on their account...

This week, purpose to keep all your communications donor-centered, avoiding your natural tendency to talk about what you (or others in your organization) want to talk about. And keep it short, simple and to the point...

It is not an uncommon dilemma. A major gift officer worries about being too aggressive in the relationship, so they turn down the contact volume and miss an opportunity. Or they turn it up too high and offend the donor. How do you strike a balance?...

Claire Axelrad, JD, CFRE, principal of Clairification, ties enduring moral tales to effective major gift fundraising strategies. There’s a lot of common sense here, and these stories provide important reminders...

By far, the number one complaint that major gift officers tell us is that they find it very hard getting the donor to engage with them. Not to sound flippant, but… welcome to the world of being a major gift officer. There are so many facets of major gift fundraising that are difficult...

You need to re-orient your thinking and your practice, as it relates to volunteers, so you create a happy place for them. And what makes for a happy volunteer? Some colleagues we have worked with are taking important steps in two areas to make that very thing happen...

Being small is not an excuse for not having a major gift program. In fact, in many ways, Richard and I find that it’s an advantage. Being small means you know your programs deeply and, because you are working with just a small number of donors, you can really get to know them...

You can get the right person in the wrong organization, and it will be a disaster for the person. Or the wrong person can get into the right organization, and that would be a problem for the organization. The hiring criteria series addresses this latter point—getting the right person for the organization...