When I was a new fundraisier, one of the first things my boss told me was that the average cultivation period for a major gift is 12-18 months. “Take your time,” he said. “Get to know people.  Get them fully convinced about what we do. Then make the ask.” This sounded reasonable to my very green [...]

Always ask for a specific amount. When you ask someone to consider a gift in a range (“Would you consider a gift of $25,000-50,000?”) it may be easier for you, the solicitor, to get the ask out. But it’s simply not as effective.  Mostly, people will give at the lower level, if they give at all. Why?  Two reasons. [...]

Do today’s office environments seem anachronistic to anyone else? It’s as if the talented producers of “Mad Men” had infiltrated our minds with 1960s office floor plans to influence the way we set up our offices today – 50 years later – in 2010. Even worse, they left the cool clothes behind. In far too many of the [...]

Here’s a handy rule of thumb:  ask for something in every meeting. You don’t always have to ask for a gift, but don’t leave without asking for something.  Maybe it’s to host a dinner or to introduce you to someone whom you’ve been wanting to meet. But get in the habit of asking. It strengthens [...]

I’ve written before on this blog about my good friend Gunther Weil and his values work (www.valuementors.com).  It provides a wonderful framework for how I think about my own life and work. One of his key insights is that people are motivated to do things that actually match their values.  When they don’t match, the [...]

Recently, I hosted a dialogue, through the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard  on the “Future of Fundraising.” (http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hauser/engage/philanthropy/) A great wrap-up of some of the meeting’s notes can be found on a blog posted by Joi Ito: http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2010/06/18/how-to-raise-fu.html. One of the meeting’s practical objectives was to bring together some of the best minds in [...]

This is an addendum to yesterday’s post about avoiding the “What do you do?” question upon immediately meeting someone. A friend who is a very seasoned philanthropist and corporate CEO told me his favorite question to ask and to be asked at any social event where he’s meeting people for the first time is not [...]

Last week, I was at a cocktail party in London.  A nonprofit I work with is generating momentum in Europe and, while I was in town, I was invited to a small event to celebrate a well-known CEO’s visit. While I spend a good portion of my life at these things, they can be tedious and even, [...]

Campaigns are powerful and productive vehicles for fundraising.  They are incredibly energizing and provide organizations with enormous “focusing power. ”  They are great for goal setting and concrete deadlines.  They also help identify, test and develop leadership.  Campaigns don’t have to be all-consuming comprehensive campaigns.  They can be mini-campaigns designed to move specific projects forward. [...]