by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Oct 9, 2013 | Asking, Fundraising, leadership, Research | Donor-Centered, Major Gifts, Philanthropy, Uncategorized
Ahhh… England. Land of double-decker buses, Big Ben, passionate “football” fans, afternoon tea… and some bad fundraising advice. Recently, our Veritus Group U.K director, Stephen Butler, sent me an article from Civil Society, written by a fundraising consultant,...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jan 28, 2013 | Asking, Development Directors, Director of Major Gifts, Joy, Non-Profits, Philanthropy | Development Directors, Major Gift Officers, Major Gifts, Non-Profits, Philanthropy, Uncategorized
If you are afraid to ask someone for money you should not be involved in major gift fundraising. That sounds pretty logical, right? Yet, when Richard and I get involved in helping non-profits with their major gift programs, we find so many MGOs who don’t ask their...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jan 23, 2013 | Asking, Director of Major Gifts, Non-Profits, Philanthropy | Donor-Centered, Major Gift Officers, Major Gifts, Marketing Plans, Philanthropy, Uncategorized
Recently, I was sitting across the table from the CEO of a very large non-profit we work with. He said, “Jeff, tell me how our MGOs are doing.” “Well”, I said, “all of your MGOs have exceeded their revenue goals in 2012 and overall your major gift program is up 70%...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jan 21, 2013 | Asking, Fundraising, Joy, Philanthropy, Thanking | Development Directors, Major Gift Officers, Major Gifts, Philanthropy
“Thank you”, according to the dictionary, “is a conventional expression of gratitude”. I would suppose that if I do not feel thankful or say the words, “thank you”, that I am not really grateful. I have thought about this quite a bit. Is feeling thankful a learned...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jan 14, 2013 | Asking, Director of Major Gifts, Non-Profits, Philanthropy | Development Directors, Donor-Centered, Major Gift Officers, Philanthropy, Uncategorized
I will never forget the meeting I had with an MGO one day last year in late January. I had asked him to come to our meeting prepared to review how each of his donors had performed in the year that just ended. Our meeting was a disaster. To begin with, he waited until...