People often ask me, “Richard, what three main things do I need to make my major gift program successful?” I’m sure many people want to know because they feel real frustration about how their major gift program is currently performing. My answer: the major gift value triad...
Richard Perry
It was budget time, and the manager was asked by finance to provide a forecast for major gifts for the coming year. The manager and the chief financial officer discussed how they should arrive at the right number and the CFO said: “Look, just take what major gift officers did last year and add 10 percent. It’s what we do every year.” And that, in a nutshell, is what major gift success looked like for that CFO...
Our donors are such a wonderful gift to us. And they, collectively, are doing so much good work in our world. Let’s agree to take a look at ourselves, as major gifts officers, to make sure we are doing everything we can to honor them and lift them up...
Over the years I have trained myself to focus on the need. Why? Because the right fix on the need drives everything you do in major gifts fundraising...
It happened several years ago. And I haven’t forgotten it. And when I heard about it I thought, really? Can anyone be so stupid? Now, I know stupid is a strong word and usually I don’t use it. But really, this was one of the worst twists of logic I have ever seen...
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Jeff and I very strongly feel that authenticity is one of the key attributes of a successful major gift officer. And one key to authenticity is that the words coming out of a MGO’s mouth are believable and true...
We are often asked if a degree or CFRE certification is 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...
You would think that it would be difficult to “lose” a donor who gave a significant gift. But in the last two weeks, I have received stories of a $73,000 donor disappearing, a $100,000 donor gone missing and a lost check from a $25,000 donor...
Who would ever think of running a nonprofit 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 nonprofit and a for-profit is that the for-profit pays taxes. Other than that, there should be no difference...
As a result of this writing, you could propose to reduce the gadget influence in your own personal life and experience life as it should be again. And then, in your major gift life, maybe you could propose to view your donors differently as well...
It was the late 1980s. I was a guest in the home of a Fortune 500 executive in Vail, Colo. It was a cavernous house where, on several occasions, I got lost trying to navigate my way back to the guest quarters. I was invited to this couple’s house to brainstorm new ways they could help the organization they loved attract more donors. They had come to know and trust me because of my work with the organization...
Today, I want to get positive and practical, and talk about the anatomy of a great major gift job description. You may find these suggestions simple—and that’s fine. One thing for sure, they are not simplistic; a good job description is complex and serious, but that does not mean it needs to be long and detailed...
Most major gift officer job descriptions have everything in them, but the kitchen sink. And besides being really irritating, it actually hurts the MGO and what the organization is trying to do in major gifts...
We all talk about the need for relationship in major gifts. And we all know that relationship is the key to success—servicing the desires and dreams of the donor in an ethical, sincere and caring way is what will cause a generous financial response...
Organizing things or work is not everyone’s strong suit. In fact, some of the best sales people and major gift officers I know seem to be (on the surface) some of the most disorganized people I know. They seem to have a heightened sense of intuition that guides them to do the right things...
