Major Gifts

I remember working for a social services agency where the social workers would often say to me, "I could never do what you do." I’d reply, "Back at you!" Each of us thought the other person’s talent was a mystery because we’d never learned it. And we’d never wanted to learn it. I also remember board members, sitting in a fundraising training I was facilitating and saying, "I could never ask for a major gift as well as you do."...

In December, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), pledging to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares, worth approximately $45 billion, over their lifetimes to further the cause. Now, the couple is making moves to keep their promise by making the first cash infusion into the for-profit charitable initiative...

Amber Heard is donating the entirety of her settlement money from Johnny Depp to charity, the actress said in a statement on Thursday. "As described in the restraining order and divorce settlement, money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in…

There is a friendly debate going on between a major gift officer, with a great deal of experience, and me. The subject is about the use of receipt returns in major gifts—that tiny, tear-off "coupon" that is attached to the official receipt that goes to a donor...

Stories about John F. Kennedy, who served as U.S. president from Jan. 20, 1961 until he was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, frequently make their way around the internet devoid of citations. While memes cut from the same cloth are commonly either misinformation or outright lies, one tidbit—that Kennedy donated his entire presidential salary to charity—turns out…

"All you care about are the numbers! Relationships really don’t matter to you!" or "All you care about are relationships. We do need to secure our budgeted revenue, you know? The numbers do matter!" These two statements—these two positions—came into sharp focus for me when a good friend and colleague told me he had been part of a discussion about how some folks just care about the numbers and others just care about relationships. Hmm. Interesting, I thought. At least there’s a discussion about this important subject...

Red flags often are used as a sign of warning or danger. Unfortunately, most red flags are not literal, but figurative, and often are missed by the people who need them most. Once you know the red flags of major gift fundraising, they might be easier to identify and tackle. Here are the top red…

In “How to Present the Perfect Pitch: From the Shark Tank to the Boardroom,” O’Leary offers 10 tips on how to ace a fundraising pitch. Whether you’re seeking venture capital or a philanthropic gift, many of the principles are the same. I’ve selected six of O’Leary’s tips I find perfectly aligned with what it takes to make a successful nonprofit ask...

As major campaigns near their ends, often there is a tendency to lessen the focus on best practices and the campaign discipline that has been key to your success. I believe that campaign goals should be met with major gifts. This strategy always should include plans to maintain and increase your ongoing annual support...

Michael Jordan broke his silence Sunday about ongoing racial tensions and violence in America that have been heightened with more casualties from police-involved shootings involving black men, as well retaliations against police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La...