So, do you really need to pay a consulting firm big bucks to run a feasibility study for you? As we continue our series on capital campaigns, we’re going to talk about how to test and validate your assumptions. How can you be confident your donor community will get excited about your campaign? How much will you be able to raise? In our last post, we talked about how to develop your broad campaign parameters–your  vision, project cost, and timeline.  We also covered how to develop a case for support, and how to develop the necessary internal buy-in needed before moving forward. Next ..read more

In my last post, I made the case for big, bold fundraising campaigns and why you need to be in one. The main reason, of course, is to maximize your organization’s philanthropic potential and do something big to advance your mission. Beyond that, however, a campaign can catalyze other benefits, including increased awareness, new relationships, an elevated culture of philanthropy, and energized stakeholders. So, revisit that post for the why. This post is about getting started—the how. If you’re not currently in a campaign, what are the first steps? The Big Three: Vision, Cost, Timeline First a ..read more

Yes, Fanatical Prospecting is a sales book. And, yes, there is some debate within the non-profit space about whether fundraising shops should try to function like for-profit sales operations. I’m not really interested in that debate—not today anyway. The disciplines are similar enough. And we’re smart people. Smart people are always able to take principles, ideas, and frameworks from other fields and use them to inform their own work. So that’s what we’re going to do. There are tons of great tips and tricks to be gleaned from Fanatical Prospecting. I recommend you buy it. This post, however ..read more

It’s true. Your non-profit really should be in a capital campaign right now. If you aren’t in a campaign currently, that’s OK. Just make sure you’re getting ready for your next one! Why?  The obvious answer is that capital campaigns help you do big, mission-critical things—the kind of stuff that your annual fund, or your golf tournament just can’t do for you. Whether it’s building buildings, adding programs, or growing an endowment, campaigns have the power to bring your organization to a new and better place.  Campaigns also allow you to put your biggest and boldest ..read more

Let’s face it: big gifts move the needle. Direct mail is fine, and, yes, every gift is meaningful. But think about truly advancing the mission of your organization. Do $100 checks have the power to take you to a new, better place? How much time and money do you spend pursuing $100 checks? And are you as intentional and systematic when it comes to your major gifts program? You can be. Because it’s one thing to get a major gift from time-to-time. It’s another thing entirely to strategically organize your activity so that you receive a steady stream of major gifts over the long haul. So, let’s t ..read more

Greetings again! I’m glad you’re here. We’ve covered a lot of ground this week and I have more for you still. We’ll get into today’s topic soon, but first, do you need to catch up? Here’s a summary of where we’ve been:  The sorry state of MGO training. And how to make it better.  ONE simple technique for getting more donor meetings   Successful MGOs and the proven systems they rely on Much of our conversation has centered around the need to for frameworks, repeatable process, and productive habits. In a word: systems. Major Gifts Officers (MGOs) need reliable ..read more

Welcome to day three of our week-long focus on Major Gifts Officer (MGO) success! We started things off by lamenting the sorry state of training in our industry. And since then, we’ve been talking about what to do about it. As you know, major gifts fundraising is all about relationships—no secret there. So, how are you going to make sure your frontline fundraisers have the know-how, tools, and resources they need to build high-value relationships? Does this just happen? And how does it scale? Is it enough to just hire friendly people? Well, you’re probably tired of hearing me say this, b ..read more

Yesterday we reflected on the deplorable state of training in our industry. And I shared three ways I wish my bosses would have supported me when I first became an MGO.  We also talked about the science side of fundraising and the importance of good habits, systems, frameworks, workflows, etc.   Yes, fundraising is more art than science. But good professionals always seek to control what they can. And, without question, you have more control over the science side.   For example, a high volume of donor visits correlates strongly with major gifts success. Want to raise ..read more

I received zero training in my first MGO job. Or support for that matter. My boss showed me the donor files, made sure I got into the database, and then said, “OK, go raise some money!”  I was scared to death.   To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what I spent that first year doing. I think I just went with the flow of things. I remember focusing on events. Events made sense. They came with deadlines, timelines, “to do” lists. It felt productive. Or at least it did to someone who didn’t know any better.  And now that I think about it, I don’t think I even had a fundraising ..read more

This is the final post in our series on donor stewardship. So far, our guiding principles have been: 1) stewardship is the right thing to do, and 2) good stewardship is a driver of future fundraising results. As always, we started big-picture. The first post was on the psychology of donor stewardship. It’s so important to understand what’s going on behind the scenes before diving into tactics. Post #2 in this series is all about stewardship strategy and planning. You need to make sure you know where your program currently stands and what your goals are. I even gave you a framework for doing a ..read more