Let’s face it: big gifts move the needle. Direct mail is fine, and yes, every gift is meaningful. But think about truly advancing the mission of your organization. Do $100 checks have the power to take you to a new, better place? How much time and money do you spend pursuing $100 checks? And are you as intentional and systematic when it comes to your major gifts program? You can be. Because it’s one thing to get a major gift from … [Read more...] about Major Gifts Systems
Are you setting your MGOs up to fail?
I received zero training in my first MGO job. Or support for that matter. My boss showed me the donor files, made sure I got into the database, and then said, “OK, go raise some money!” I was scared to death. … [Read more...] about Are you setting your MGOs up to fail?
Stewardship Tactics
This is the final post in our series on donor stewardship. So far, our guiding principles have been: 1) stewardship is the right thing to do, and 2) good stewardship is a driver of future fundraising results. As always, we started big-picture. The first post was on the psychology of donor stewardship. It’s so important to understand what’s going on behind the scenes before diving into tactics. … [Read more...] about Stewardship Tactics
Auditing Your Stewardship Program
So, what does a high-functioning donor stewardship program look like? That’s a question I’ve been asking while thinking about my own organization’s stewardship efforts. We know stewardship is important. And, we have a sense that more would probably be better. But how much more? And more of what, specifically? There’s truly no limit to how much we could do in thanking, acknowledging, and celebrating our donors. But how do you get the most bang … [Read more...] about Auditing Your Stewardship Program
Fearless Stewardship
Giving should feel good, right? Our donors need to feel great about their giving. If they don’t, we’re sunk. Our slow, Fearless Fundraising march through the giving cycle has reached the final stage—stewardship. While stewardship may be final stage of one gift-giving journey, it is by no means the end of a donor relationship. When done well, stewardship serves as the first step of a donor's next gift-giving process. It strengthens their … [Read more...] about Fearless Stewardship