You Can Teach an Old Dog Major Gifts Tricks

Key points gleaned from Perry's presentation are as follows:

• The transfer of wealth is just beginning with baby boomers giving $62 billion annually.
• Treat donors as partners, not just sources of cash.
• Donors have lives.
• Money transfers value-money is a result, not an objective.
• Focus on building relationships.
• Create a grid base upon current donors.
• Create a plan for every donor through moves management.
• Identify interests and programs plus touchpoints.
• Follow the seven pillars for success in the major gifts arena.

I strongly suggest you acquire the book "It's Not Just About the Money" by Perry and Jeff Schreifels, his partner at Veritus Group and co-author of the Connections blog. The book is devoted to building authentic major donor relationships. It is important to note in the book that besides creating an individual plan for each donor, you need to invest more time in getting ready for the ask than any other task. According to Perry and Schreifels, preparing the ask involves knowing your donor, knowing your program, making the perfect match of program to donor, composing the ask and practicing the ask.

Just like public speaking, the more you do it the easier it becomes. The harder you practice the better the results. There are many factors that go into a major gift ask and major gift program development. That is why this area of fundraising is so special. At times, senior professionals with dual responsibilities for managing plus fundraising get so caught up in management they let their skills slip in the fundraising area. It is important to always have a third party give your battery a boost so you can be your best in the fundraising area.

I am certainly not Laffy's age and don't have his upside for training, but I did learn more about major gifts from Perry. Perry and Schreifels point out in their book a success story by a major gifts officer. There is no greater feeling than to secure a significant gift for your institution. It validates your worth and makes you hungry for more!