Warming Up to a Cold Call
Cold calls. Even the moniker of these usually dreaded method of outreach is, well, cold. But the best gifts, and relationships, always emerge from conversations, and they’ve got to start somewhere. I was recently asked address a meeting of chief advancement officers representing specialty post-graduate colleges. When asked what they would most like to learn about, the group came ...
Destined For Mastery
Master Gift Officer. Just the words alone conjure up confidence, optimism, energy, and success. And the phrase embodies what we all strive for: demonstrating the highest level of ability, talent, and dedication within the development profession. Today, the job title isn’t on the tip of the tongue of most nonprofit fundraising professionals or organizations, and hasn’t been spotted on a ...
The “Who’s Asking?” Paradox
Philanthropy - especially very successful philanthropy - always requires just the right “personal touch.” But what happens when relationships appear to close doors instead of opening them? Here’s what I mean. We’ve heard it from volunteers, and even from other advancement professionals: ”I’m too friendly with her to ask her for a contribution.” It seems that many people feel uncomfortable ...
Economic Uncertainty or Deflection
The United States, arguably, is in its fourth year of the "great recession." Fallout from the country’s debilitating economic environment has created grueling financial, professional, and personal hardships for millions of people. A complicating factor bottlenecking recovery includes the shroud of “uncertainty” that continues to be cited as an obstacle to renewed hiring by the private sector. Many non-profit organizations ...
Desperation or a Good Idea?
Just what catalyzes your prospects and donors to give? What channels grab their attention, heartstrings, and in turn, their checkbooks? Every few years, a hot new fundraising concept seems to emerge - one that “promises” to breathe new life into your advancement efforts. The past two decades have provided us with fundraising “salvations” including… These traditional and newer techniques ...
Either… Or
There are few greater challenges in the profession than serving as the chief advancement officer (CAO) of a small to midsized shop. Your boss and board have high expectation for your department and yet have little appreciation or understanding of the true dimensions, complexities, and public exposure risks (think gala) of running a high performance advancement operation. Almost all of ...
