Many nonprofits use RFM as a means to fill their fundraising caseloads with supposedly qualified prospects – people who have a good chance of becoming major donors. But does RFM work well for this purpose? As any gift officer will tell you, the promise is often better than the reality. Most fundraiser caseloads are filled with bad leads and prospects who don’t want to hear from the organization, never return calls or emails, or aren’t capable of actually giving a major gift even if they had interest in their organizations. So what’s wrong with RFM? What does it do well, and where does it fall ..read more

One of the most overlooked secrets to getting wealthy people to commit to a major gift is to simply get them talking about their wealth. This is actually true with anything, not just money. Whatever a person is good at or enjoys, they like to talk about. And the more they talk about it, the more their brains start coming up with ways to use their talent, ability, or asset. If you can succeed at getting your organization’s wealthy supporters to talk about their wealth and assets, you increase the chances of them deciding to use some of it for a major gift. One of the best strategies for doing ..read more

What is the ideal caseload size for gift officers? A quick internet search serves up a classic example of the term ‘conventional wisdom.’ Nearly every citation will mention the number 150. But what makes this number appear to be so universally agreed upon? Is it based on research? Did they ask gift officers how many fundraising prospects they can realistically work with at one time? They most certainly didn’t, because none of them would have given a number anywhere close to 150. So where does this 150 figure for the ideal gift officer’s caseload size come from? It comes from Dunbar’s number ..read more

So many nonprofits seeking major gifts keep doing what they’ve been told by the so-called experts, consultants, and traditionalists. Ask, ask, ask. Keep your metrics consistent. Stick to the script. Wealth screening. RFM. When something new and flashy like AI comes along, they might add that to the mix because, “Yay! Technology.” But does any of that stuff work as well as it should? Are those the strategies and the ways of communicating and understanding your major donors that best connect with them? Do those techniques help activate the emotions that motivate transformational gifts? If you d ..read more

Sure, asking for money is hard. But asking for an estate gift? Even experienced fundraisers can get squeamish. As Anne Melvin puts it, “For many of us, asking for a bequest is akin to asking, ‘So when are you going to die and what are you going to leave us when you do?’[1] And yet, it’s vital. The right ask can be powerful. So, how can we do this? What are the right words and phrases? To answer this, let’s start with theory. Theory and death reminders Why is this so … uncomfortable? Simple answer. Because it’s about death. Death is an uncomfortable topic.[2] More than that, the reality of our ..read more

DO THIS ONE THING TO BOOK MORE VISITS: The next time someone tells you they don’t want to visit… in other words, they slap you with an objection… SAY SOMETHING! There are many tips on exactly what to say to overcome specific objections but the main tip is just to come back with some reason why you should still visit. 99 times out of 100 a donor gives an objection and gift officers immediately say, “Ok, I’ll reach out some other time!” Don’t do that. If someone says they have made all their giving decisions for the year, so there’s no reason to meet, try something like… “Sue, most intentional d ..read more

Fundraiser turnover is an epidemic. And that’s not just our opinion or an attempt to be dramatic. Actual researchers used that label to describe the state of the profession after investigating the disturbingly high turnover rates and low morale among those who work to raise by far the largest share of money at most nonprofits. Other research found that the average fundraiser stays on a job only 16 months, and that many who leave those jobs never return to the field again. So these aren’t people just hopping from one organization to another. This is industry burnout. And no one wins – fundrais ..read more

Disaster! We put in the work. We put in the planning. We carefully execute each step in the cultivation process. We thoughtfully craft and stage the fundraising ask. And, finally, we get the answer. And the answer is … “No.” What do we feel? Disappointment? Devastation? Self-doubt? This emotional experience is all too common for fundraisers. And it’s bad. These bad emotions can lead to bad behaviors. It can make fundraisers avoid asking. (“Maybe I’ll stay in the office today. Someone’s got to choose the fonts for that new ‘branding’ effort.”) When they do bring themselves to ask, it can make ..read more

I wasn’t interested in many Olympic sports until someone came up with the clever idea of preceding them with insightful and inspiring stories about the athletes participating in them. Listening to inspirational stories about how athletes had overcome trauma, injury, and denied opportunities had me pulling for people in sports I had never heard of. That’s the power of the personal backstory. It provides us with the means of identification – and the more we identify with certain athletes, the more fervently we root for their success. More advancement operations have come to appreciate the impor ..read more

I think colleges and universities should STOP worrying so much about DONOR PARTICIPATION RATES and become much more concerned about QUALIFICATION RATES. Just think about how much time and money gets invested in driving up participation. And, how many crass solicitations result from that investment (which drive plenty of donors away). Sure, it might drive the vanity metrics up at first. But so what? If donation revenue isn’t increasing too, what’s the point? Is comparing favorably with your peer institutions that important? Plus, according to my free Fundraising Report Card app, new low dollar ..read more