What If Mark Twain Was Your Major-Gifts Officer?

“It ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you. It’s what you do know that ain’t so.” — Mark Twain

Great wisdom is always cryptic. Parables, allegories, metaphors — these are the ways great thinkers express great truths. It's up to the rest of us to determine how to apply those insights in ways that make our own lives better and more rewarding.

For example, if Mark Twain was your major-gifts officer (MGO), he might amble into your office, lean his surprisingly slight frame against the doorway (he was just 5 feet 8 inches), brush a fleck of cigar ash from the collar of his rumpled white suit and drawl:

"A round man cannot be expected to fit into a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape."

What he'd mean, of course, is that those who contribute to your regular appeals are far and away your best source for major donors. In fact, I've had more than one MGO tell me most of their major donors start out giving at the $25 or $50 level.

But turning those modest contributors into major donors rarely happens overnight. The challenge is that their giving habits are already in place. And they're not likely to change them overnight. As Twain would tell you:

"Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."

It takes time, patience and cultivation. It starts long before you approach the donor about stepping up his or her commitment. It starts with knowing more about the donors you want to reach out to:

"There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can."