When Richard asked me if I wanted to join his major gift consultancy back in 2009, he had already established the backbone of the strategy, structure, and process of what we now call The Veritus Way of Major Gifts.

But Veritus Group itself didn’t come to life until we were in my living room, in a house near Philadelphia, where we came up with the name. That name was rooted from the Latin: Truth and Authenticity in Community. We wanted to be truthful and authentic to ourselves, our clients, and to each other.

After we came up with our name, we started discussing what our values were going to be. Things like honesty and transparency, partnership and mutuality, relationships and service to humankind and our planet. This was important to Richard and me because we wanted to name values that would drive the culture of who Veritus is and how we were to be in relationship with others.

Then we worked on the mission, which was to provide relationally and analytically based mid-level, major gifts, and planned gift donor management strategy and services to non-profits worldwide that result in higher donor retention and giving.

The way we were going to deliver that was bringing The Veritus Way (that structure and process that Richard created years prior) to non-profits and individuals so they could build authentic relationships with people.

I remember sitting in that living room dreaming out loud to Richard, “Wouldn’t it be great if 25-30 years from now, The Veritus Way becomes the standard for how non-profits do major gifts?”

We knew back then that The Veritus Way could transform how non-profits treated their donors. And not just donors – their staff and their non-profit culture, too.

14 years later, we’re on our way. This summer I’ve attended numerous fundraising conferences, and at every one, fundraisers are talking about how The Veritus Way has changed their work with donors. I recall in one session, a panel of five fundraisers talked about how The Veritus Way influences and guides them in how they work with mid-level and major donors. They had no idea I was in the room when they discussed it.

My eyes welled up in tears, knowing that we were on our way to achieving our mission. I so wish Richard had been there with me in that moment. I’ll make sure he’s there with me next year.

We’re not fully there yet, but it’s heartening to see thousands of fundraisers and hundreds of non-profits adopt The Veritus Way around the world.

Have you and your organization adopted The Veritus Way?

If you have, you are already developing authentic relationships with donors and experiencing much higher revenue. If not, or you need a reminder of what The Veritus Way is all about, below is a visual of what it means to practice The Veritus Way. You can print this out and put it on your desk as a constant reminder of how to treat your donors.

Adopting The Veritus Way of mid-level, major gifts, and planned giving will give you a system and strategy for learning your donors’ passions and interests and matching that up with all the amazing projects and programs your non-profit provides that are changing the world. As a frontline fundraiser, there is nothing better than that.

Jeff