As a major gift fundraiser, you are expected to tell your organization’s story and to know your donor’s story. All of it is important so you can bring those two together to make amazing things happen. But there is another story you need to know – your story.
Major gift fundraising is incredibly difficult, and it can be emotionally draining. If you don’t have that fire inside of you to be that bridge I was talking about, you won’t be able to survive the challenges of this profession.
You CAN do the impossible with major donors: convert major donors’ giving from the same amount year after year, to increased and even transformational gifts.
There is one area that, if you can devote time and energy toward it, will definitely break though the noise your donors live in every day: serving your donor!
Jeff and I place this trait – viewing donors as partners – as a critical piece of a healthy relationship with the donors on your caseload.
Donors have specific interests – that is a fact. And you must find out what they are. This point has EVERYTHING to do with your ability to secure a meeting with the donor.
Corporations, foundations and other grant-making organizations are simply groups of individuals who have agreed on what they believe it is important to fund. They are still individuals who have the same hopes, dreams and vision for our hurting planet as individual donors do.
You can’t rush the process of understanding a donor’s passions and interests. Even if you are at a place where you know this about a donor, that doesn’t mean you’re done cultivating that relationship.
Helping major donors grow their giving takes time. Here are several stories of how MGOs worked patiently, and it paid off.
Qualifying donors is a very important part of major gift caseload management. You want to be sure you are talking to and relating to those donors who want to engage. It will make a tremendous difference in the quality of your work.
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