by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jul 16, 2014 | Caseload, Goals, Managing, Stewardship, Time Management | Discipline, Goal-setting, Major Gift Officers, Moves Management, Uncategorized
You are 65% through the year and you are behind in reaching your goals. What should you do? Your first inclination might be just to do more of what you have been doing. Or hope that one donor will come through really big and take you over the top. Or maybe, just...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jul 14, 2014 | Accountability, CFRE Certification, Hiring, jobs, Managing | Development Directors, Major Gift Officers, Major Gifts, Non-Profits, Uncategorized
We are often asked if a degree or certification of some sort is really necessary to be successful in major gifts. And this goes to a much larger question of the role education plays in preparing a person to do the job. I go back and forth on this subject, a...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jul 9, 2014 | Fundraising ratios, leadership, Managing, ROI | Major Gifts, Non-Profits, Overhead, Uncategorized
Who would ever think of running a major gifts program as if it were a business? Not many people. And that’s too bad, because it would cause each of us to pay more attention to the things that are important. I have often said that the only difference between a...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | Jun 9, 2014 | Development Directors, HR, leadership, Managing | Major Gifts, Management, Non-Profits, Uncategorized
One of the major problems facing major gift program managers these days is keeping talent. You have an opening, you spend a bunch of time (and often money) finding the right person, you train them (sometimes move them), they come in and start off well, then “bam!”...
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | May 30, 2014 | Fundraising, Job Descriptions, Managing | Accountability, Development Directors, Major Gifts, Management, Uncategorized
In my previous post, I vented about the things that bug me about most job descriptions, and I outlined the six areas where most job descriptions go wrong. Today I want to get positive and practical; let’s talk about the anatomy of a great major gift job description....
by Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels | May 28, 2014 | Job Descriptions, Job Performance, Managing | Accountability, Major Gifts, Management, Uncategorized
That’s what most major gift officer job descriptions have – everything but the kitchen sink. Besides being really irritating, this situation actually hurts the MGO and the organization’s goals in major gifts work. I was going to be positive about this subject. But the...