Below you will find excerpts of my latest articles/posts that I have produced. To see the full article for any entry, you may click on the Title of the article.
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 …
It seems to be a recurring problem that executives don’t have a sufficient number of substantial projects to offer qualified prospects. If your organisation cannot break down its work into themes and ‘projectise’ it into exciting fundable pieces it will …
A Substantial Major Gift requires a Substantial project Read more »
When developing a major gift programme within a charity it is really important to set out ways to develop the culture of philanthropy. An organisation doesn’t initially have this. It includes many aspects of working with high level individuals that …
Developing a Philanthropy Culture: Set up a Steering Group Read more »
After at least 9 months of detailed relationship building, you may sense the time is right to do the ‘ask’. The assumption for this is : You have had a minimum of monthly, two way ‘touch points’ ie at least …
A values or philosophy document underpins your Programme. It simply sets out your guidelines for developing relationships with Philanthropists. This is particularly needed as the Programme weaves through every department within your organisation – finance, supporter relations, direct mail, programme …
Prepare a Values document for your Major Donor Programme Read more »
A key factor for any organisation is how much time to allow for developing relationships with donors. Who will do the developing and how much time do they have available to build the relationship with each donor? At the heart …
One of the questions major gifts executives often ask me is: ‘How do I build a deep, meaningful relationship with a prospect?’ The first point is to say is that it is really important to do this! Until a potential …
Over the years I have heard Major Gifts executives say this over and over again to persuade a would-be prospect to see them. But does it really work? I would venture to say ‘No it doesn’t!’ and here are lots …
It is well documented that contacting three potential donors a day is a must for a full-time Major Gifts Executive. But what exactly does that mean? Does this refer to those donors you are ‘managing’, your qualified caseload? Or does …
It is really helpful in relationship building to invite the individual or preferably, couple to visit your office. This gives the potential donor some experience of the ‘atmosphere’ and culture of your organisation and really helps them on their relationship …
