You want to develop a major gift program for your nonprofit, but you’re not sure you have enough donors to warrant hiring a major gift officer. Or you are growing your major gift program, and you’re wondering when it makes sense to hire another MGO to add to your team...
To be the best professional you can be, always strive to improve your memory and acquire new learning concepts. I have found that letter association helps me create lists around concepts. Whatever letter you use, letter association should help you in your quest to cluster concepts...
Major donor prospects don’t hide under rocks or fall from the sky, but if you look in the right places you will find them. Once you do, you’ll have the fuel you need to fill your major gifts fundraising pipeline. It’s your first step towards leading them along the continuum from interest… to greater involvement… to passionate investment...
When you’re evaluating of the effectiveness of a fundraising program, you often have to look no farther than the internal language being used by the staff and volunteers who execute that program. Professional jargon is an unfortunate occurrence in just about any profession...
Recently, I had a conversation with Debbie Ezrin, director of development and communications of the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless. Debbie had commented on one of my blogs in such a thoughtful way that I simply had to get to know her...
When your major gift officers end their meetings with major donors or prospects, what do you think is the first thing they do? You probably guessed right. Your team member grabs his or her mobile device to check emails and social media. We live in a world that is all about on-demand information...
I love the Beatles and heard the song, “A Day in the Life,” the other day. This song, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, was released in 1967 on the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely-Hearts Club Band” album. The song title inspired me to write this blog post about a day in my life as a not-for-profit pro...
There’s no substitute for the basics, as boring and tedious as they may be. This is true with anything in life, and major gifts development is no exception. The basics are boring, but they’re fundamental to your success...
Most of us can identify with this experience: Agreeing to help out with a project or an organization, ending up more involved than we intended and vowing to say “no” to future requests. And yet, here I am, year after year, running tickets for Hot Times, Holy Enchilada and the other games of chance. The truth is, I fell prey to a technique we subscribe to at Turnkey to help our clients raise more money for their various missions...
Most people, businesses and charities that have achieved great success emphasize the why over the what and the how. Of course, the what and the how are a lot easier than the why, but if you properly understand and express your why, people who feel similarly will buy from you or donate to you willingly, regularly and for a very long time...
