15 Ways Directors of Development, MGOs Should Work Together

We often are asked our opinions on the ideal relationship between the leader of the development department and the major gift officer (MGO). Here is what we think, organized by category of work on the left and the two roles to the right:

There is one very important point in this chart—the director of development (DOD) needs to be vitally involved in the work of the MGO! Jeff and I find that this is usually not the case, especially on items No. 6 and No. 7, program information and offer/ask development, respectively. These two critical areas are the lifeblood of a good major gift program.

You can have a very talented MGO, and a willing and capable donor, and miss the whole thing for lack of program information. Be sure and find a way to get this important information.

As it relates to the whole list, often a capable and professional DOD will delegate some of this work to a subordinate, an agency like ours or even both. If that is the DOD's preference, then work with those delegates to make sure the work you need done gets done.

Take a look again at the 15 categories of work I have listed above and identify the areas where your DOD or agency or both could be more helpful. Then, if you are comfortable, find a way to talk to them about it, positioning your narrative as, "It would really help me if you could 'X.'"

The important thing is to make sure you are covered and all the critical areas of major gifts in your shop are operating efficiently and effectively.