I know you don’t like failure.  Who does?  However, sometimes failure is necessary in order to get your head back on straight.
Richard and I, along with our team at Veritus Group, are mostly in the business of taking failing major gift programs, helping to rebuild them, and managing them through to success.
I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy.  It often takes some very hard work.   However, that hard work always pays off.  Always.  Why?  Because we know that if we can create this one thing, this one element into the major gift program, amazing things happen.  Without this one thing, every major gift program we have reviewed has failed.
What is it?  Discipline.
I know what you’re thinking. “Are you kidding?  That’s so boring.  That is the most ‘not fun’ thing ever.”  And, I say, “You’re absolutely right.”  But without it, your major gift program will die on the vine.  Whether your major gift team is comprised of 80 major gift officers or you are a one-person shop, stuffing and licking envelopes on your own — discipline is the key to a successful major gift program.
To help you figure out how your program stacks up, here is what an undisciplined major gift program looks like.  See if any of these apply to your program:

1. The MGOs have no structure so they are running around like bandits and gunslingers looking for donors to hunt down — In this instance, the MGO is asked to find “new” donors rather than cultivate the donors he or she has.  It turns out to be a big mess and the MGO really becomes disheartened, managers are frustrated and leadership thinks it’s just a case of having a bad MGO.  No, it’s not the MGO, it’s just a really bad strategy.
2. There is no roadmap for the future — When Richard and I first sit down with non-profit leaders, we love to ask the question, “Where do you want to be in 3-5 years?  What’s the vision for your organization and how will development support it?”  If they fidget around and hem and haw, we know they are in trouble.  You need a destination.  But more importantly, your donors need to see a destination.  We can’t believe how many non-profit leaders don’t get that.
3. No Strategy — Of course, when we encounter no real vision, inevitably there isn’t even at the least a one-year strategic plan.  We want to see exactly where you are today, where you want to be at the end of the fiscal year, and how you’re going to get there.  No strategy = chaos.
4. No realistic goals based on anything — In an undisciplined major gift program, goals are often not set for each donor.  But even when they are set, the goals are not based on any kind of reality, except perhaps the pressure of leadership’s wishes.  Goals are crucial; however, they have to be based in reality.  That reality involves researching past giving, capacity and knowing the donor.
5. Lack of Management — One of our key findings with an undisciplined major gift program is a total lack of good management.  Basically, this means that the MGO has no one to hold him accountable, no one to provide direction and no one to be his advocate.  Richard and I have often written about this problem in our industry.  If we see bad management, it’s almost guaranteed that the entire program is undisciplined.
6. No structure to moves management — This ties into not having a strategic plan. If there is no plan, then there is usually no step-by-step moves management laid out for each donor.  And, almost as bad, the MGOs are not entering the moves they are making with donors, so no one knows what they are doing or what’s happening with donors.  This may sound improbable to you, but there are so many major gift programs run this way.
7. No accountability — This is another huge problem resulting from a lack of discipline.  Richard and I often find that managers don’t hold MGOs accountable to their goals.  The attitude is something like, “Hey, you didn’t make goal… no problem, go get ‘em next year.”  So, this means no consequences for poor performance over time.  How many folks are lingering in non-profits today because no one has held anyone accountable for their work, therefore allowing poor performance and mediocrity to become accepted?  The other negative side to limited accountability is, when the MGO is performing well, there is no reward.  If there is no disciplined system of accountability, how do you reward great work?  It won’t happen, and it will be hard to keep that great MGO.
8. A culture of philanthropy is absent — Richard and I have walked into major gift shops that have absolutely no healthy culture of philanthropy.  Building relationships with donors has not been made a priority and fundraising is looked upon as a necessary evil.  It’s a big pile of YUCK!  Great non-profit leaders are disciplined to create healthy cultures of philanthropy.  They are driven to do it because they know it honors fundraisers and donors.

Whew!  Okay, now you know what I mean by LACK of DISCIPLINE.  But, here’s the good news:  This can be turned around.  We know, because we do it every day.  No, it’s not easy, it takes a ton of work, but if you can commit yourself to a disciplined process of change and make discipline the top priority of your major gift program… what a great program you will have!
Jeff