Major Gifts

"What do you mean you lost the check?" the manager almost yelled. "How could you do it? It was $75,000, for goodness sake! $75,000 of someone’s life!" It was not a pretty situation. I wasn’t there, but I heard about it in great detail just a week after it happened. Someone had lost a donor check for $75,000! It was gone. Vanished. Vaporized...

Starting a successful charitable organization relies on the success of one simple action: raising money to support that cause. Whether your charity only needs startup funding or your group will rely on contributions in the long-run, raising money toward a cause is a top priority. Thanks to the prominence of corporations in the media, it…

A defensive Donald J. Trump angrily listed more than two dozen veterans groups that he said had received $5.6 million thanks to his fundraising and personal largess during a contentious news conference Tuesday in which he repeatedly railed against reporters who questioned him. Criticizing the news media at length, Trump demanded that journalists credit him…

The fun thing about working in major gifts is that you have an opportunity to loosen money’s hold on people by encouraging them to give it away. When people give away their money, they short-circuit its negative influence. As a major-gift fundraiser, you perform a powerful and unique service to donors...

First, the NFL tried to buy itself a talking point of spin. The cost: $30 million, courtesy of a "no strings attached" donation to the National Institutes of Health, which was conducting a study on the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and football. "Hey, look, we care so much we are funding the study."…

The campaign was stalled, and a friend called for advice. A large national consulting firm had developed a campaign plan and early counsel. Soon after its engagement ended, the campaign seemed to stall...

Success is a funny thing. We all want it, but not all of us are comfortable with it. I remember sitting with a group of major gift officers (MGOs) once, and we were talking about the important work each of them did. In the middle of the discussion I asked the question: "You all do…

One night in January, Donald Trump skipped a GOP debate and instead held his own televised fundraiser for veterans. At the end of the night, Trump proclaimed it a huge success: “We just cracked $6 million, right? Six million.” Now, Trump’s campaign says that number is incorrect. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually…

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,…