No Vision, No Gift

I will never forget what happened to the major gifts officer (MGO) who went into the office of an owner at a very large company in California and asked for a gift. The donor said, “When you have something that has some vision and is in the million-dollar range, come back and see me. What you are proposing today does not interest me.”

I felt like saying: “I told you so.”

But the MGO did not listen.

We had had many meetings about this donor. I had pointed out that this man was the founder of a very successful and entrepreneurial company; that he was wired to make things happen; that he was a visionary; that he was not satisfied with tiny, insignificant projects; and that he wanted to make a difference.

The MGO had pointed out that the history of giving was $25,000 here and $50,000 there, and that that kind of giving did not justify a million-dollar ask.

I had countered that the information we had mined on the Internet showed this man was interested in making a mark, not only for society but also for himself.

And so the argument went. Back and forth. And I lost. And the MGO got on a plane to make his $200,000 ask.

I had dinner several weeks ago with a person whose net worth has to be in the $750-million range. As we talked, I was once again impressed with the truth that most very wealthy people really do care. They really want to make a difference. And they want to do something significant.

This gentleman was soft spoken and humble. He had achieved a lot. And the weight of his wealth and achievement seemed to have made him introspective and serious. His success had made a huge difference in his life. He was thankful, I could tell. And now he wanted to make a difference.

But here’s the thing. People like this, while they may be calm and peaceful and, in the case of this gentleman, very quiet and thoughtful—these kinds of people have a great deal of impatience for small thinking.

And this is the point I want you to go away with from this post—many donors need you to share a big vision with them!

Jeff and I see so many asks these days that lack vision, energy and inspiration. It’s no wonder that the donors are rejecting them. Why would a donor want to just do something mediocre?

Think about this.

When you do something for someone else or when you give a gift, don’t you want to know that you did something significant? Of course you do. So why would you put something in front of a donor that feels insignificant or seems like you are just asking the donor to throw some money down a black hole?

Many of these high-capacity, high-net-worth donors have been engaged in business and personal ventures where the stakes were high, the impact was significant and the outcomes they sought seemed unachievable.