Major Gifts Guru.com

Upcoming Major Gift Officer Training

2010-04-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Major Gift Officer Training

By Tom Wilson, Major Gifts Guru

How can you improve your major gift fundraising skills?

How do I transition from annual giving to major giving?

Am I missing any tricks in raising money?

I get many questions like these with requests for information on where to go for major gift officer training.

There are only limited options here are a couple of ideas:

1) Attend one of the upcoming sessions of PLAN MGO on either May 21^st in Boston or June 25^th in Chicago. This intensive, 4-day training session for major gift officers is interactive, fast moving, and full of great information.

Disclosure – I’m am one of the faculty members, one of 3 authors who are helping to present sessions along with PLAN MGO staff and guest speakers. Last fall our session included some great community volunteers who shared their expectations of fundraisers from the perspective of donors and as fundraising volunteers.

) Hire a major gifts officer coach (somebody like me of course although geographically that may be a challenge). Ongoing training, even if it’s only 2 or 4 hours a month can provide training to fit your specific situation. Find a local consultant that you have a good relationship or send me an email and we can talk.

Ideally, do both types of training – intensive and ongoing.

Should Nonprofits Keep Doing Capital Campaigns? (Part 1 of a series)

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Should Nonprofits Keep Doing Capital Campaigns? (Part 1 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

The Great Recession is causing chaos throughout America and the world. Nonprofit organizations aren't immune. In fact, they are the most vulnerable and the most sought after in tough times.

As a major gifts specialist and a capital campaign consultant, I get asked regularly about the future of capital campaigns.

Are they dead?
A thing of the past?
Who would think of doing one is the wild economy?
As a campaign consultant you must be in real trouble?>/li>

This new series of posts will explore the pros and cons of nonprofit capital campaigns in tough times. We'll cover three major issues:

1) Understanding capital campaigns

2) Positives on why you should campaign

3) Challenges to campaigning in tough times

more to come

Major Gifts Guru's Most Popular Posts

2010-03-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Below are the top 20 most popular posts to date (based on web traffic) on Major Gifts Guru. To read these posts, simply click on the post title.

Major Gift Officer Job Opening in Portland, Oregon

2009-12-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Major Gift Officer Job Opening in Portland, Oregon

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Here is an opening at one of my clients. Let me know of your interest.

Adventist Medical Center Foundation (Portland, Oregon) is seeking to hire a highly-experienced, major gifts officer to serve as Director of Annual Giving. The successful candidate will establish a $1,000 annual giving society with the objective of securing 100 members in its first year; obtain golf tournament sponsors for a $185,000 event; continue employee giving of $140,000 a year; and work on special fundraising projects. Five to eight years of results oriented fundraising experience required; CFRE preferred. Send impact resume to Tom.Wilson@campbellcompany.com. Excellent benefits and an experienced Foundation team welcome your expertise. You can find out more information at their website by clicking here.

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 3 of a series)

2009-11-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 3 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

I captured this information from a session at AHP International (San Francisco, September 2009) – “Prospecting for Success: Creating a data-driven program that yields results” by Sally Boucher, WealthEngine & Nancy Lee, Director of Research, Jefferson Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Other advice

In a 2008 test, 80,000 mailed, half segmented, half not, those segmented increased average gift size from $82 to $120.

Upgrade ask amounts and frequency for those with higher capability ratings, and more recent giving.

What do you do with low capacity ratings? Drop those who do not respond to appeals or live in nonproductive gift codes.

For planned giving look at:

Birthday (60 and older)

Loyal donor (10 year giving or longer)

Multiple property owners

While I only know enough about prospect research, databases, and direct mail to be dangerous, it’s always fascinating to listen to the experts in these areas. As major gift officers, we need to keep our personal relationship skills high as we continue to work smarter through good prospect research.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 3 of a series)

2009-11-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 3 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

I recently served as one of the faculty for PLAN MGO, an immersion training program for major gifts officers. The second day of our classes featured two New England donors who both have extensive experience as volunteer fundraisers. I captured some of their comments:

Russell and Steve responded to each other and questions from the audience

“As a volunteer I can open any door once. After that it’s up to you, the staff to keep things moving forward.”

“Insider tours of a lab, backstage, of the art curation workshop are very effective ways to engage donors and to reward fundraising volunteers like us.”

“Use your volunteers to screen names. One organization got us together to review a list of 900 names. We knew about 260. Then they invited the 260 in to see who they knew. It was an effective technique.”

“I think you major gift officers should be out of the office seeing donors 80% of the time. I know people tell me this is unrealistic. But, that’s your job.”

“People like to be asked for more than dollars.”

“What’s more important in fundraising – need or successful results? If you’ve done exciting bold things this year, then tell your donors, your investors. Then tell us why you need more support in the future. It’s really a balance of both stories. If you have no successes and only needs, why would I give you money? Or, if you have only success but don’t need any more money, why should I give you more? You must have future vision to excite donors. I would start with the impact of past investments and then talk about future needs.”

“To be an effective fundraising volunteer I need to know the donor’s hot buttons.”

“We both know people who have had to reduce gifts this year. Respect their situation, respect their gift history. They’ll be back if you stay with them in these tough times. Treat people with grace and dignity.”

“I trust a good major gifts officer as a colleague with me on behalf of the cause. My job is to transfer my relationship with a prospective donor to the major gift officer.”

Thanks to Russell and Steve for giving their time over lunch on a Saturday to speak to this group of major gift officers. PLAN MGO is to be congratulated on a great session.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

An Excellent Major Donor Stewardship Letter

2009-11-16T06:56:00.000-08:00

An Excellent Major Donor Stewardship Letter

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

One of the great joys of the philanthropic fundraising profession is getting to work with dedicated volunteers who give their time, their money, and their passion to a nonprofit cause.

One of my volunteer fundraising heroes is Dave Karr, leader of the Stayton Public Library Foundation (Oregon). I met Dave a number of years ago when he hired my team to raise money for a library building expansion.

He needed to raise $1.95 million. We told him this would be a challenge, but he agreed to chair the campaign and make a significant personal gift. The campaign reached its goal and then surpassed it to raise $2.8 million to cover increased building costs and to create an operating endowment.

This achievement for the town of Stayton with 7,000 people would be extraordinary for any volunteer fundraiser. For Dave Karr, who has macular degeneration and therefore can’t drive, can’t read papers, can only see his computer screen with a giant magnifying glass, his dedication and energy to “see” the campaign to success was exceptional.

Dave Karr chaired meetings at his home, had people drive him to fundraising calls, hold his arm to get into meetings, and led with energy and dogged persistence to ensure the campaign was a success.

But now, the rest of the story.

A great stewardship letter

I just got a year-end, gift-request letter from Dave in the mail. Here’s what he told me about the impact of the library building expansion project.

Library visits have increased from 46,050 to 94,657
Circulation has gone from 108,964 to 133,295
Internet usage from 9,826 to 22,045

Ongoing donors gifts this past year paid for:

4 new library user computers, a microfilm reader / printer

a defibrillator for the Library

helped the City of Stayton replace deteriorated windows in the older section of the library

continued to add funds to the permanent endowment

helped fund the new Outreach Storyteller Program to promote literacy through visits to local preschools, daycare centers, and Head Start programs – the program provides book boxes for teachers to use in their classrooms and gives up to 4 books a year for each child to keep

“Thanks for your support !”

Of course, Dave included a return envelope and donor card to let people make another investment.

Way to go Dave. I’m proud of you and the entire Board of Stayton Public Library Foundation. I’ve invested before and I’ll invest again.

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 2 of a series)

2009-11-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 2 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Flag daily gift reports: Any one-time gifts of $5,000 or higher; any one-time gift of $1,000 or higher with wealth indicator; multiple gifts of $1,000 or more; suspects and leads; and newly acquired donors.

Monthly flags: high level job title and alerts in news sources.

We try to capture everyone’s business cards and put that into the database.

HIPAA – use AHP guidelines for HIPAA. Remember you need to mention the opt out and make it visible enough.

Demographic information permitted:

Name
Address
Email
Phone
Gender
Date of birth
Insurance status
Dates of service

Evaluate patient census and look for matches with current donors. It will also provide new prospects for you. Remember relationship factors to manage the prospect flow. Someone who has already given is more important. Someone who has attended an event is more important. More recent donors first. $1,000 or more first. Especially important with a small staff. Then work top down.

If the person is not already in your system, look at wealthy cities and zip codes, wealth attributes. Also, look at number of visits. Those who have been in during the last 6 months are more important.

Have immediate alerts are sent to MGOs if an assigned prospect or trustee is in the hospital.

In-facility visitation – make contact with patient and/or family by foundation staff, designated patient services officer, or physician representative; goody bag to be received prior to discharge can include a note pad, lotion, comb, case statement, annual report, patient brochure, reply device (some or all of these).

Post-visit follow up – assign MGO, track in donor management system, if not qualified for personal follow up use direct mail (monthly is ideal).

Physician referrals – a physician leader helps sell to the medical staff, recruit a core group of physicians, train, follow through when they refer a donor, and then report results.

Direct mail (Penn Medicine) uses quarterly discharge list from IT to:

Filter out current donors

Filter out poor performing zip codes

Filter out Medicaid or self pay

Screen list segment by capacity and other wealth indicators

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 2 of a series)

2009-11-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 2 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Steve

“Realize you major gift officers are in the relationship business.

“Be known as a great listener.

“I see a trend where really large organizations are getting more professionals to do the fundraising. That’s okay, but it’s driving folks like me to smaller organizations where I can still make a difference. I’m not so valuable any more at the big organizations. Our family will still give to them even if they are following what I call the university model of fundraising. I want a total relationship with organizations we give to. I want a place where I can play a transformational role. Right now that’s with a local women’s shelter. I like this place because we’re changing lives.

“Here are 10 best practices for nonprofits and fundraising

1) “I like organizations that are fast, flexible, and entrepreneurial.

2) “I like to envision a 'career' path as a volunteer leader for me and for others. I challenge people to be a leader right now, even if they are young. We need more than $, we need great people.

3) “I want a respectful partnership with the professionals and the volunteers at the organization. The leaders need to articulate this respect.

4) “The underserved inspire my giving

5) “Stewardship is important. Thank us over time. I treat my fellow donors as investors. I want them to get an investor’s report from the nonprofit.

6) “A good solicitor understands needs and believes in the cause. You must have an emotional attachment to the organization. I want to learn something as I do my volunteer work.

7) “I expect the nonprofit CEO to be inspirational. Get me involved in your vision for the future. You can make changes as the plan unfolds, but show me a path.

8) “I want to see a maximum amount of contributed dollars going to services not to management and fundraising.

9) “Do your homework. Do the research to make me comfortable in asking a donor for a gift. And be patient with my process. I want to build a relationship before the ask so it may take a couple of meetings before I make the ask.

10) “Use my time effectively and wisely.”

He also added one additional comment – “make fundraising fun. People want to have an enjoyable time with good people.”

“My three building blocks of life are: 1) family, 2) friends, and 3) community.”

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Major Donor Motivations for Giving

2009-11-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Major Donor Motivations for Giving

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

One of my favorite studies on major donor motivations is the Prince & File book, The Seven Faces of Philanthropy.

Published in 2001, this study was done as a collaboration between a major gift fundraiser and a university school of business faculty member. They surveyed donors with a cash net worth of $1 million or more who had made gifts of $50,000 or more in the past year.

The data can be found in the chart above.

Religious 21% – this is less than the 35% that Giving U.S.A. finds for the entire donor universe. Please realize this number can vary in different parts of America. For example, in my work in Utah I this percentage is much higher because of the strong Mormon tradition of tithing. In the Pacific Northwest the percentage is probably far lower as Oregon and Washington are among the least churched states in the union.

Altruistic 9% – only a small percentage give just because they are generous and kind hearted.

Dynasts 8% – family traditions of giving. When I worked in Chicago many years ago many of my donors gave because their grandfathers had been on the board. Family giving was expected. In the Western United States with so much new wealth, the first generation is just learning to be philanthropic.

Repayer 10% – giving to a charity who helped the donor. I knew one minister who had gotten a scholarship to Yale Divinity School who has given, and intends to give, $100 a month to help future students.

Investor 15% – saving taxes and helping charity. When I started in fundraising 30 years ago we thought most of philanthropy was motivated by getting a tax break. The tax rate was 78% at the time. As taxes have been cut, giving keeps going up. So, we found that avoiding taxes is only a minor motivator for donors.

Communitarian 26% – the highest motivation for donors is to give back to communities where the donor has made their money. In the Western U.S. where dynasts and religious giving may be lower than other regions, communitarian giving is very high.

Socialite 11% – giving for social reasons and to party. This is why we’ll always have special events (oh well).

If you’d like a copy of the chart above, just send me an email.

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 1 of a series)

2009-11-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

Healthcare Prospecting for Major Gift Officers (part 1 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

A major gifts program drives high ROI (Return on Investment). Average data for mature programs show an ROI of 80% for the entire program 80% according to Greenfield – Fund Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process. Aspects of a mature program are: Direct mail acquisition 15% ROI Special events 50% ROI Direct mail renewals 80% ROI Foundation / Corporate 80% ROI Major Gifts 90% ROI

As you look at prospective donors to identify and qualify them consider the following data:

Job titles

Wealthy zip codes

Charitable giving

Foundation assets

Political giving

Real estate (especially if they have multiple properties)

Stock holdings

Predictive modeling works with organizations with a track record of giving. Look at your best donors: How many events have they attended versus nondonors? Zip code patterns – are there places where you can detect a pattern of stronger first gifts than from other areas? If so, then concentrate more of your work in that geography. With a large enough file with enough giving histories you can run your entire file to see who is most likely to give in the future.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 1 of a series)

2009-11-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Advice from Major Gift Donors Who Are Also Fundraising Volunteers (part 1 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Russell

"Rather than just asking for a major gift I always ask people for an even greater gift to our cause – their time.

"Capital campaigns are like sprints. Keep the energy and finish quickly. I don’t like long campaigns.

"Never let a donor pay off a 5-year pledge. By year 2 you need to be meeting with the donor to tell them the impact of their current pledge. In year 3 start gathering ideas from the donor on their future interests in your organization. Year 4 bring back some projects that incorporate these interests with your organization’s plans for the future. Ask advice on how to design the program. In year 5 ask for a new 5-year pledge to fund their new ideas. If they pay the pledge off early, hurry up this process.

"Events – follow up after the event. Touch each person. If you feed ‘em, ask ‘em.

"I see too many times where everyone is scared to call on 'Mr. Big' to get a lead gift. Don’t be afraid. Mr. Big may be wondering why nobody has asked yet. He wants to be included. And, always remember it’s easier to get a $250,000 gift than a $25,000 gift.

"Believe in yourself. Realize all of us are self employed. Sure, some of us get a pay check from a company or nonprofit organization, but we all work for ourselves.

"I always tell people 'give until it feels good.'”

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 3 of a series)

2009-11-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 3 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

I was recently hired by a mid-sized nonprofit to run its major gifts operation. Although I've worked in development before, I have never held this particular role. I'm writing to ask you for any advice you might have for a new major gifts officer.

In the first 3 articles in this series I talked about finding out about your top donors to build a major gifts annual giving society. The next step is to visit donors to sharpen gift club benefits, to review lists of names to see who else could join, and to determine how each donor could help in this recruitment.

Of course file contact reports after each visit. Follow up to close new gifts you have detected and to recruit volunteer leaders for your gift club.

The next startup step is to focus internally.

What is your case for support? In tough times why should a donor choose to give to you instead of their other causes? What makes you unique to the donors? As the new kid on the block, what can you learn from your organization’s leaders and program managers that would amaze and delight donors?

Go interview senior management, long-term board members, and staff leaders of your service delivery programs to build your case for support. Write up each interview to reflect on what you’ve heard. As you meet with people, ask them for images (pictures, graphs, diagrams) to show your nonprofit in action.

Also read all recent accreditation reports, major grant proposals, annual reports, direct mail letters, press releases, and other official documents that help tell your organization’s story.

Then start writing an outline case for support (or use PowerPoint) to come up with 20 to 30 slides to tell your story. Your case should include:

how you benefit and impact the community with photos of peoples' lives you impact

why you’re unique and special and therefore worthy of support

the challenges the organization faces that could be solved through more resources (money and influential volunteers)

then your fundraising programs and opportunities for donors to help

Remember in outlining – 5 to 7 words per bullet point, 3 to 5 bullet points per slide (or page), a picture or graphic chart for each page, a story for each page that brings one of your points to life. Go for simplicity and clarity.

Once you have gone through 5 drafts circulate it to your internal interviewees to seek their advice and improvements. Then go back to your best donors to see how they would improve it.

Now you’re ready to share it with potential donors.

Good luck in this new job. Keep me posted on your progress. For my readers, what others suggestions would you provide?

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 4 of a series)

2009-11-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 4 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Notes from an AHP International presentation (9/09) from David Woodruff,

Executive Director and COO for Development for Massachusetts General Hospital

Final Comments as You Plan a Campaign

Ask the tough question – “Is a campaign necessary?”

The good part of campaigning is that it sets an institutional goal and challenge. Woodruff noted: “For MGH we’re so big we needed the energy of a campaign to unite the Hospital.”

For Massachusetts General Hospital campaigns:

Force strategic thinking and promotes cross fertilization of disciplines
Unifies themes and a marketing image
Builds institutional constituencies versus the departments
Encourages institutional investment in development
Demonstrated community impact – has turned out to be very important
Position your heritage and your vision for the future.

What types of projects got included in their campaign?

1) Institution-wide priorities

2) Physician and departmental leadership

3) Existing core of volunteers

4) Market appeal

5) Implementation of a multi-disciplinary approach

Challenges ahead – keeping the annual fund moving for unrestricted giving; building a culture of volunteer fundraising (they only have a 14 member board with half of them physicians), moving beyond grateful patients to potential donors in the community.

“We try to show how Mass Gen benefits the economy and the community. We know we haven’t told our story to enough of the right people. We’ve got to let people know of our phenomenal accomplishments.”

This post is part of a series. To read the other posts in the series, please click the links below:
Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 1 of a series)
Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 2 of a series)
Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 3 of a series)

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 2 of a series)

2009-11-02T21:59:00.001-08:00

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 2 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

In the first article of this series I suggested you set up an annual giving major gifts club. I also recommended that you look at your top donors of the past year or two to look for giving patterns and levels to set your club at.

Once you’ve made your analysis, go to the top two or three tiers of donors (for our example the top 8 giving $2,500 or more) to ask their advice. Let them know of your plans and have them react to the gift club level. Show them the current members list at each of your proposed levels to see what they would recommend.

Your initiative thought of seeing your major gift donors is correct. But, why do they want to see you? Have an authentic agenda to make your get-acquainted visits more comfortable for them. By discussing your new gift club you have an authentic reason to meet with your best donors. Find out:

Why they give?
What motivates them philanthropically?
Ask how they could be helpful in developing your gift club benefits that would attract new donors?
If they don’t like to ask, could they host a home or club event to share your story?
And, who else should you be calling on? Who could be invited to cultivation events?

As you meet with people, create a list of all donors (top down) for the last 3 years so donors can review the list (200-300 names). By showing a list of names you’ll get your current donors to qualify the people who have already given some type of gift before. Can they give more? Who is connected enough to help you get a meeting. And, in looking at a list, new names will surface.

In Gladwell’s The Tipping Point he talks about the law of the few – mavens, connectors, salespeople. You want to determine which attributes your best donors have.

Who are the real champions and visionaries?

Who may be weak on the message but are connected to everyone and can open any door?

And, who are the few who can close the deal and help you meet your fundraising goals?

Sometimes one person will do all 3 jobs – but my experience indicates that’s about 1% of your donors. Some can do 2 of the 3 tasks and almost everyone can do 1 of the 3. Just listen hard to determine where they are comfortable. Be patient. Sometimes it takes multiple interactions to develop a relationship and to build trust.

Work top down. Build relationships with the biggest donors first as they will know other people like themselves.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 3 of a series)

2009-10-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 3 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Notes from an AHP International presentation (9/09) from David Woodruff,

Executive Director and COO for Development for Massachusetts General Hospital

Campaign Progress

Mass General’s fiscal year end is 9/30 and they project final FY 2009 results at $235 Million bringing the campaign to $824 Million. While they had a great year, they know next year will be tougher and they have set their projections lower (please see an earlier blog post about one of their lead gifts by clicking here).

Woodruff commented: “With this campaign the Hospital is recognizing the power of philanthropy. With some 8 figure gifts leadership now understands philanthropy can be transformational.” Major gifts for us are $100,000 to $1 million; principal gifts above that.

The campaign started with 70 staff in 2005 raising $110 Million that year. The staff is now at 110 staff – 30 major gift officers lead the work (this includes corporate and foundation fundraising staff).

No government research funding or earmarks are counted in the campaign.

The biggest growth in 2009 was principal gifts of 41 million or more but they expect 2010 will see more annual gifts, mid range should be good next year.

For MGH the normal pledge is 5 years with some principal gifts structured out for up to 10 years on a case by case basis.

Campaign counting – Duke had a good example of campaign counting. MGH used some of their ideas and borrowed others from CASE guidelines. Planned gifts do count.

$750 million building, 25% to be fundraised, $75 M for naming rights

They found only 1/3 of our departments were getting HIPAA authorization signoff forms, but those that did were raising more money. So they made this uniform so we could raise money in every department.

I found the gift table interesting. It started at the $100,000 level. 1,000 gifts of $100,000 or more are needed. They use a 4 to 1 prospects per gifts model. The gift table starts with prospects needed, then gifts needed, gift range, subtotal.

This post is part of a series. To read the other posts in the series, please click the links below:

Defending ROI of Major Gift Officers

2009-10-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Defending ROI of Major Gift Officers

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

"I am wondering if you know if there is any 'standard' or data that supports industry ROI for gift officers in their 1st through 5th years? I am in the position of defending the ROI of my gift officers to my Trustee Board, but do not know what the readily acceptable number would be, depending on their years in the position. Thanks for the help." DN

I posted an earlier series of articles on this issue. Click here to go to that series of posts.

However, the old standard is out. We used to say that a MGO should pay for themselves by the end of year 1; 3 X by year 2; and 5 X by the end of year 3. Or, you may get a star that can produce 10 times their salary and benefits.

One of my colleagues had taught her institution that her team could make about $1 million per staff member. While she had a great 2008-09 and raised $75M, their target was $125M. So, in spite of the tough economy she had to lay off 50 people.

Times are different now which makes the old standard benchmarking less valid.

I do have one hard and fast rule – after 1 year the new staff person has got to be covering their salary and benefits. They still may need to flower in the future but they can’t be a drag on the system.

Also, before you defend your staff too quickly, really think deeply about each person’s productivity. How is your overall office doing compared to last year? How is each person doing from a year ago? Who is always out of the office making connections and filing contact reports? Of course you need to measure dollars, but monitor activity.

Don’t fall into the trap of defending everyone if in reality you have 1 star, 2 solid players, and one weak person. You should admit any weaknesses in your staff and share how you are coaching for improvements.

If your major gift officers are working on organizational committees, subtract this time from the 125 prospects they should be shepherding. Or, ask your boss to let the MGOs out of committee work so they can focus on raising money.

Now is also a great time to audit how much the staff is dedicating to special events? Everyone may have to work twice as hard to raise the same money this year.

Finally, is everyone filling out contact reports to document all calls? The team may need to strategize next moves for each prospective donor. You may need to decide if a particularly prospective donor is worth further cultivation. The less experienced the staff person is, the more of this coaching they will need.

I hope something here is helpful.

P.S. Remind everyone that even a 3X return is really good. What other investments can your organization make that results in 67% return – certainly not the stock market.Write blog post content here

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 1 of a series)

2009-10-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Advice to a New Major Gifts Officer (part 1 of a series)

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

I've been reading your blog for about a month now with much interest. I was recently hired by a mid-sized nonprofit to run its major gifts operation. Although I've worked in development before, I have never held this particular role, and I'm both excited and nervous to get started.

I'm writing to ask you for any advice you might have for a new major gifts officer. As I understand it, my first task is going to be to get to know our current major donors. But how will I proceed with new donors? I hope you have some tips. Thanks for your site and your time.

N.T. from the East Coast, USA

This is a fun question and takes me way back in time. Good luck on the new job. Here is how I would start.

You’re right in thinking you should start with your current major gift donors. Determine what a major gift is for your organization – is it $1,000, $5,000, or what?

I’m a champion of establishing a basic, annual giving major gifts club. Or if you have, totally re-engineering it.

Pick just one entry-level giving amount (with higher amounts recognized by level and/or color). Use one gift club name to brand the club and focus staff energy to build community and identity for gift club members. When I was a university vice president I went so far as to re-title the staff coordinator of the club “Executive Director” of the Presidents Club. This made a lot more sense to the club members than development officer.

What should your basic entry level dollar amount be?

One way to check this is to look at the top 25 gifts to your organization in the past year. Work top down – how many gifts at each level starting with your largest gift first. You should be able to determine a pattern as to where you could set up an annual major gifts club program.

Here’s an example of some data:

1 – $25,000
4 – $5,000
3 – $2,500
12 – $1,000
6 – $500

This gift patterning is tough to call. You could set a major gift club at $500 with 26 members. I probably would call it at $1,000 with 20 members. But, you could consider $2,500 with 8 members.

To check your instincts go back to the gift histories of these same top donors. How stable is their pattern of giving? For example, if you think $1,000 is the right answer, how consistent have the 20 donors giving at that level this year been in the past? If you’re seeing good stability in the gift histories, then you’re on the right track. If on the other hand, you see only periodic giving at this level and in fact most giving at $500 then the $1,000 may be too aggressive. If you see many years of higher giving and that this year is actually low, then the $2,500 gift club level makes more sense.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 2 of a series)

2009-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 2 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Notes from an AHP International presentation (9/09) from David Woodruff, Executive Director and COO for Development for Massachusetts General Hospital

After establishing their historical credentials, the next step of their case preparation involved evaluation of the elements of a potential campaign.

What are the forces at work now or in the future that will impact the financial stability of the hospital?

What are the needs that can be addressed by philanthropy?

Does evidence demonstrate that fundraising is possible?

Is a campaign necessary?

What opportunities could be realized through a campaign? Or lost if one wasn’t done?

The campaign focused on facilities & technology, investments in key clinical and research programs, recruitment, and retention of the best clinical and research staff, and global outreach. The will of leadership was critical to get the campaign moving forward. The 8-year, comprehensive campaign includes:

Research endowment $100M
Unrestricted $100M
Education endowment $50 million
Facilities $300 M
Program $950M

They expect unrestricted giving to be the biggest challenge and have started an annual giving program to help boost these efforts across all departments of the Hospital.

This post is part of a series. To read the other posts in the series, please click the links below:

Washington Fundraising Training The Win Win Ask and Listen for Success

2009-10-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Washington Fundraising Training: The Win Win Ask & Listen for Success

by Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

I will be lecturing to a communications class at Walla Walla University in the State of Washington on November 4, 2009. If you’re in the southeaster Washington area, you’re welcome to join the class from 2 to 4 pm for The Win Win Ask.

Later that day at 7 pm I will do a community presentation on Listen to Win. Following this session will be a book signing for Winning Gifts: Make Your Donors Feel Like Winners (Wiley & Sons 2008).

This is my second visit to campus to teach a class. I hope you can join me for this event. For more details on how to attend these free events, please send me an email.

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 1 of a series)

2009-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Inside Story on a $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign (part 1 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

At the 2009 AHP (Association of Healthcare Professionals) International conference in San Francisco I got the change to hear David Woodruff,

Executive Director and COO for Development for Massachusetts General Hospital provide an insiders progress report on their $1.5 Billion Capital Campaign. Please note this is not the official goal of the campaign but rather a working target. They plan to go public in 2010 and are still calibrating the final target amount.

Mr. Woodruff provided insights on they have gotten to this stage of campaigning. Campaign counting started 10/1/05. They hope to reach their goal by the end of 2013. They track progress quarterly. Their fiscal year end is 9/30 and they project final FY 2009 results at $235 Million bringing the campaign to $824 Million.

Massachusetts General Hospital has 23,000 employees and is the largest Medical Center in Boston. Woodruff noted that Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will be 200 years old in 2011. The bicentennial became the driver for the campaign. As they celebrated 200 years of history they knew they had to tell the vision for what was going to happen in the next century, the 3^rd century at MGH.

They started with a one page summary of their 200 year history which showed tremendous acceleration of clinical and research excellence in the last 60 years.

This post is part of a series. To read the other posts in the series, please click the links below:

Using the Internet to Increase Major and Planned Gift Fundraising (part 5 of a series)

2009-10-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Using the Internet to Increase Major and Planned Gift Fundraising (part 5 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Here is a continuing article from the San Francisco 2009 AHP International (Association of Healthcare Professionals) annual meeting. These gems were gleaned from Sandra Henningsen who presented a session on Maximizing Your eMarketing Success for Major & Planned Gifts.

The participants in the session got into a stimulating discussion about the use of video on the Internet. How much money should you spend? What type of production values should you use?

I was particularly interested as I have produced 18 videos in VHS and DVD format over the years. I serve as executive producer and interviewer and have found them to be the most powerful ways to make your case statement come alive to prospective donors.

Everyone stressed the importance of using motivating stories to enable donors to motivate other people. If you show a video segment an your annual gala, put a version on the Internet.

One of the younger people in the room wondered if a quick handheld video would be okay. While a handheld camera is less steady, it may seem more real to people. Lower production values make it more authentic.

My sense is higher production values are important with older donors who are used to television quality versus a more free wheeling “Blair Witch Project” format that younger people are used to.

One of the AHP staff responded that she was capturing video of the conference for posting on YouTube since their site couldn’t accommodate the video yet. She was using a $300 camera for basic video work. But, she strongly suggesting buying a high-end $150 boom microphone as people are more forgiving of video quality if the sound comes through clearly. Don’t count on the camera’s built in microphone to do the job well.

Keep patient and donor testimonials to 5 minutes or less.

All of this discussion on video content really got me excited. When we do our video work for campaign movies we’ll tape someone for 15 to 20 minutes to end up with 2 or 3 sound bites for the final product. I like to have 5 to 7 people in the 8 minute video to get a variety of perspectives. With this session, I got the great idea of doing multipurpose editing. Once we’re done with the major overview piece, we can go back and edit 3 to 5 minute solo testimonial for each of interviewees to let people capture more of their thoughts on the Internet. Usually we get so many good quotes that it’s heartbreaking not to use all of them.

And, of course, use YouTube to share videos of your organization. They have an entire nonprofit section and you can put links to your videos from your eNewsletter and website.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Is a feasibility study really needed for a nonprofit capital campaign? (Section 3, part of the Q&A series)

2009-10-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Is a feasibility study really needed for a nonprofit capital campaign? (section 3, part of the Q&A series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Here’s why it is important to do a feasibility study before a campaign and why most fundraising consultants refer to the study process as “philanthropic market research.”

As a follow up to the study process, once the organization has accepted our philanthropic market study report and campaign plan, we suggest inviting all study participants (anyone who has come to a leadership briefing, sent in an engagement survey, or participated in an interview) to come to a report-out session. We suggest offering 2 or 3 optional times to be flexible enough for good attendance. The consultant presents a summary of the report findings. Then the organization announces their plan of action – going forward with a campaign at the recommended goal amount (sometimes modified because of the study report). We use this opportunity to recruit leadership one more time. The reality of a strong, clear campaign plan encourages more people to offer to help.

The report out meetings are effective. Prospective donors are usually pleased to learn the organization listened to them and respected them through the study process.

Several years ago I hired a retired university vice president to do some work on studies with me. Vic was a great fundraiser and had been through 35 years and 4 capital campaigns at a variety of colleges across the county. His campaigns had been successful even though he hadn’t done a philanthropic market study for them. After being involved with the process a couple of times, he felt that a study helps guarantee success and that his colleges could have raised far more money if they had gone through this process. He became a believer.

So, yes, go through a study process to prepare for your upcoming campaign. It forces you to make your case, engagement donors early, find the fundraising volunteers that will ensure success, and put in place the resources needed to win.

This article is part of the Q&A series. To read the other articles in the series, please click the links below:

Using the Internet to Increase Major and Planned Gift Fundraising (part 4 of a series)

2009-10-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

Using the Internet to Increase Major and Planned Gift Fundraising (part 4 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

eNewsletters – these can be effective ways of communicating with prospective major gift and planned estate gift donors. They can include stories of donors, news articles about your organization, and links to staff “welcoming” web pages. Be sure to include links to further information on your website and to a PDF of your longer, print newsletter.

I was intrigued by the information about a staff welcome page. Sandra suggested putting the lead gift officers at the top of the page with smiling pictures and also including any staff that donors may interact with – receptionists, other major gift officers, etc. Some website use an optional video greeting as well to help break down barriers and make the staff more real and approachable.

Send eNewsletters to your existing list and let them know they can opt out at any time. Most will stay in.

There is a trend to eNewsletters as they are relatively inexpensive and very “green;” no paper or postage. The speaker noted Blanchard Valley Health Foundation invited people to the opening of their imaging center through their eNewsletter.

You can also announce planned estate giving seminars by eNewsletter and then link to the professional speakers and their photos on your website. Again, this breaks down barriers to communicating with advisors who will complete donor gifts and provides your professional advisors with good visibility to potential clients (a win for everyone).

A personal note from a client experience – they went to an eNewsletter format and it was great. But, they stopped doing a traditional newsletter. I recommended they do both because we were missing 35% of the emails from our target audience of 70 and older prospects. Maybe 10 to 20 years from now we can go all electronic, but not yet. Keep using multiple platforms to reach the most people.

This article is part of a series. To read the rest of the series, please click the links below:

Is a feasibility study really needed for a nonprofit capital campaign? (section 2, part of the Q&A series)

2009-10-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

Is a feasibility study really needed for a nonprofit capital campaign? (Section 2, part of the Q&A series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Here’s why it is important to do a feasibility study before a campaign and why most fundraising consultants refer to the study process as “philanthropic market research.”

To prepare for the leadership briefings (focus groups) requires that an outline case statement be prepared. This forces the organization’s leadership to think through campaign priorities and to practice presenting it to a friendly audience. We generally recommend 4 to 6 briefing sessions to involve your best 50 to 100 donors. For one group we ended up having 22 leadership briefings involving more than 300 people all over the state of California.

Another great study technique is the use of an engagement survey. This is a simple way to reach out to the next level of prospects. We generally ask organizations to send the engagement survey to the top 5% to 10% of their donor file. This is a much larger group of people than the 40 being interviewed or the 100 in the leadership briefings. You send out the case outline used in the leadership briefings with a one-page (front and back) survey form and a return envelope. We’ve used both regular mail and email. It’s fun to see who pops out of the woodwork. For one organization we sent 16,000 emails and got nearly 2,000 responses. Another group discovered a $500,000 donor that wasn’t on anybody’s radar screen.

One of the most important questions we ask during the interviews is: “Will you work on the campaign in some way?” This helps us to recruit campaign leadership throughout the study process and to present a volunteer organization based upon findings of the study.

We also use the study interactions with a client to help determine what resources the organization will need to win the campaign. One of the major reasons for campaign failure is over-reaching on the goal and under-resourcing the staff. Your organization must play to win.

The final study report, the campaign plan, is also a great educational tool for your volunteers and administrators. An outside voice is helping show the path to campaign success.

The other value of this campaign process is the outside, independence of the consulting team. If the emperor has no clothes, they’ll tell this to the consultant where they may hesitate to tell the staff. It’s a giant listening exercise.

This article is part of the Q&A series. To read the other articles in the series, please click the links below: