The Fox and the Crow
It takes a plan to secure a major gift. Many major gift executives I have worked with assume their donor will give without devising a thoughtful plan to ensure this happens. Other major gift executives can be at the other …
Author: Ruth Irwin
Ruth is the principal and founder of Ascent Philanthropy, author of two books and passionate about helping non-profits with their major gift programmes by offering advice for introducing a new major gift programme or enhancing the productivity of the philanthropy team
The Story of the Miser
I love the story of the miser who melted down his hoard of gold into one single lump which he buried secretly in a field. Every day he went to look at it and would gloat over his treasure. One …
The Rich Man and the Tanner
The fable goes where a rich man moved into a residence next door to a tanner. He complained to the tanner about the smell and spoke to him many times about this. The tanner always made excuses, promising to move. …
The Bee and Jupiter
A queen bee wanted to take a present to Jupiter and took some fresh honey from her hive. Jupiter was so delighted that he promised to grant her any wish. She requested that bees be given stings and that any …
Major Gift Fundraising: Insights from The North Wind and the Sun
One day the north wind and the sun were arguing as to who was the strongest. They decided to resolve this when they spied a traveller wearing a coat. Whoever could get him to take his coat off was the …
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Major Gift Fundraising: Insights from The Fox and the Grapes
One day a fox saw some juicy bunches of grapes hanging from a vine. He jumped as high as he could to reach them but couldn’t so he gave up. He walked nonchalantly away saying ‘Oooohhhhh I realise now that …
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Three Things for a successful Major Gift Executive to avoid
The first point is to avoid taking short cuts. I have worked with dozens of executives over many years and those who take the easy way out don’t raise the finance. Instead of following up on people who showed an …
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Consulting with your Chief Executive
Many of your high net worth major donors will desire a relationship with your chief executive. They inevitably want to talk to the top person to build their confidence that the organisation is in good hands. They perhaps want to …
Charities fined over ‘wealth screening’ data breaches
Two charities have been fined over data protection breaches after secretly screening donors so they could be targeted for more money. This is a very, very sad day indeed. Why the commissioner ruled that donors should not be screened is …
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When is a good time for a capital campaign?
I was asked some years ago by the leadership of an organisation to give my view on whether they were ready for a capital campaign. I gave a resounding ‘no the organisation wasn’t ready’ as they still had not established …
