The Economics of Major Gift Fundraising Series #5 – How Caseload Value Grows Over Time

It is so interesting to me how people outside the major gift process think about how a caseload of donors performs and grows over time. There are some pretty big misconceptions out there.  Here are some to consider: There will be no attrition either of value or...

The Economics of Major Gift Fundraising Series #4 – Credit – Who Gets It?

Let me say, right at the top, that the MGO gets all the credit for revenue from any donor on his or her caseload with the exception of planned gifts IF a PGO was involved. There are a lot of people who do not agree with what I just said. And it is one of those issues...

The Economics of Major Gift Fundraising Series #3 – The Economic Destination of a Caseload

There are smart destinations and there are stupid ones in major gifts. Jeff and I experienced one situation in which the Director of Development and all of her MGOs had only one objective for each donor on each caseload: to build relationships with donors and not ask...

The Economics of Major Gift Fundraising Series #2 – Old Money vs. New Money

There is nothing that causes a bigger debate in the major gift business, next to who gets credit, than the subject of old money/new money. A couple of months ago I was meeting with a CEO of a very large non-profit. He got so heated in his discussion with me on this...

The Economics of Major Gift Fundraising (#1 of 6)

Several weeks ago I got into a rather heated argument with a finance person in a large non-profit who was taking an aggressive and spirit-robbing position on the value of a Major Gift Officer. “What good are they doing anyway?”  he said.  “They take credit for money...