It’s a punch in the gut. It makes your heart stop. You start to feel anxious. You know the feeling. It’s the one you get when you discover that your good donor is decreasing their giving. And you immediately begin to look for the reason. It’s funny how this all works....
As a major gift officer, you can have the right caseload, a great strategy, solid program offers and be doing your job right – but you can still fail because of the poor relationship you have with your peers and boss. I’ve seen this happen so many times, where an...
Your life has been turned upside down. Uncertainty is currently certain. It’s easy to go down a dark path and become incredibly anxious and depressed about what’s happening in our world, country, and communities today. But in tragedy and crisis, there’s always hope,...
Jeff and I were having dinner with a friend of ours earlier this week. We were talking about how so many leaders, managers, MGOs and PGOs buy into major and planned gift ideas, schemes, philosophies and approaches that are either not true or partially true, but they...
Fourth in a Six-Part Series: What Should I Do If…? Something happens in almost every non-profit where, over time, we lose focus. And as the non-profit grows, it breaks down into departments or siloes that forget to communicate with one another. The ultimate loser in...
I’m frustrated. I’m personally off track on some tasks I need to do. I also have colleagues who are off track on their work, and stuff is getting “pushed” further down the path. Maybe you experience this as well. There are times during the year when I feel like I’m...
It’s the last week of October. Once you hit mid-December, it’s almost impossible to get a meeting with donors, with all their holiday activities. This means you have about 4-5 weeks left to meet with donors. I’ve talked to many discouraged major gift fundraisers...
Today, I’m really excited to begin a series of six blogs that will introduce a new asking model that Veritus has created. It’s called Permission-Based AskingTM. Jeff and I have a ton of energy about this because we’ve been searching for a way to fully express our...
I’ve been talking to a few major gift officers who are leaving their current positions and moving on to another non-profit. They are really excited, as they are moving on to organizations that are more aligned to their passions – and they are receiving higher...
The other day I was talking to an executive director of a regional, well-established non-profit. She was lamenting that her organization was steeped in very strict silos, and the situation made it difficult for development to be effective. I was confused by this...
Twice monthly, Richard and Jeff address current topics and classic problems in major gift fundraising.
