Major Gifts

I was recently a guest panelist for a fundraising conference in Washington, D.C. The topic was how to hire and retain great major gift officers (MGOs). It’s a great subject. The room was packed, and it was the last session on a gorgeous afternoon, so you know it was important to people. One of the first questions that the moderator asked me was, "What is the single most reason an MGO leaves a position for another one?"

You already know the importance of asking strategic questions and listening to understand (rather than to respond—or even worse, not listen and only react). Having strategic conversations with your donors, helps you establish rapport, build trust, uncover essential information, and share your mission and vision in an interactive and memorable manner. Asking questions isn’t hard,…

In part one of this article, we looked at how nonprofit marketing, fundraising and sales are synonymous. Sadly, they too often have been siloed—resulting in inconsistent messaging, confused donors and money left on the table. Let’s get practical. It’s been crystal clear since the explosion of media and messaging post digital revolution that if you still are thinking outbound marketing, you’re a dinosaur...

I was so impressed with the way my colleague Sharon Kerr, who works for The Salvation Army in California, organized and rallied her program people that I had to pass it on to you to copy and use, with her permission...

One of the biggest fallacies of philanthropy is the expectation that money will solve everything and that more money equals greater results. Trillions of dollars are spent globally on social and environmental issues, and very few problems have been solved. Why is that? We’ve been focused on the wrong things. Our assumptions, traditions and self-interest…

What is happening out there? I’m seeing too many major gift officers (MGOs) who play small, do enough just to get by, and seem to want to drift through their careers just long enough so they can retire and head to Florida. How did this happen? I just want to take these good people (and,…

George Mason University’s president has responded to concerns raised by faculty, students and others that the public university has become overly dependent on private donations—questions prompted by one recent gift from a foundation with conservative ties and another that asked that the university’s law school be renamed to honor late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin…

Who are you? Have you been asked that question? My wife asked me that several weeks ago when I was having a meltdown on a particular subject that was especially frustrating to me. She did not recognize me in my reaction. I was not aligning to my stated beliefs and values. I was someone else...

The annual Sunday Times Rich List is a reminder that, for a select number of our fellow citizens, money seems to fall like confetti. The chance to compare the wealth of billionaires with plain old multimillionaires doesn’t come along that often. It is a strangely compelling reading. My eye, however, is quickly drawn to the…

Nike co-founder Phil Knight is worth an estimated $25 billion, and plans to give most of it away to charity, he told CBS in an interview that aired Sunday. "By the time, you know, the lives of my children and their kids run out, I will have given most of it to charity," Knight said…