Relationships or Numbers: Which Do You Care About?

“All you care about is the numbers!  Relationships really don’t matter to you!” or “All you care about is relationship.  We DO need to secure our budgeted revenue, you know?  The numbers do matter!” These two statements – these two positions – came into sharp...

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 #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...