I’ve spent nearly 30 years in major gift fundraising and there are so many things I’m grateful for. At the top of my heart and mind are names: Phill, Gary, Brian, Kyle, Eddie, Daryl, Jeff, Rich, Paul, Steve, Dan, Ron, Ronna, Kirsten, Jeff, Henri, Lee, Andy, Ashley, Ivana, Lee, Justin, Ethan, Carolyn, Julie… the list goes on.
Every single one of them have their fingerprints on the daily and weekly writing I do to encourage and equip major gift fundraisers. Since March of 2023, the Breakthru Blog has 68 posts to help these kindred spirits navigate the work they are doing. I will continue adding to the blog on a weekly basis, but as we’re heading into the fourth quarter of 2024, I felt it would be helpful to organize these weekly guides into categories so you can quickly access pro tips and reflections on your most pressing issues.
Whether you have questions about networking strategies, conducting a great ask, celebrating with your team, messaging tips, measuring results, crafting a strategy, and everything in between, you’ll find much of it right here in one place. Here are the categories for you to explore:
Fundamentals: General (7 posts)
- Fundamentals: Vision and messaging (8 posts)
- Fundamentals: Systems (8 posts)
- Fundamentals: Storytelling (3 posts)
Sacredness: General (8 posts)
- Sacredness: Prayer (3 posts)
- Sacredness: The Ask (9 posts)
- Sacredness: Stories of your givers (9 posts)
Fun: General (0 posts)
- Play (2 posts)
- Extended family relationships (1 post)
- Celebration (2 posts)
For Leaders (3 posts)
Self Care (5 posts)
As you review these resources, please take a 15 second survey and let me know what is missing that would be helpful to add. What feels most pressing in your major gift work as you head into the fourth quarter of 2024? What are some of the toughest questions you would like for me and others to specifically address?
And here’s a special 4th Quarter 2024 offer exclusive to subscribers of The Breakthru Newsletter: A free 90 minute session to talk about your strategy and plans for the end of the calendar year, no strings attached. Send a note to jpaul@jpaulfridenmaker.com with the subject line "subscribe" and I'll followup with instructions on how to schedule your session.
Thank you all for the amazing work you do! I’m pulling for you and praying regularly.
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If you haven't taken advantage of some of the resources I've created to help major gift fundraisers, take a look now! Initial calls with me are free and "no strings attached". Sometimes folks feel like they need to wait and not 'bother' me until they have a pressing issue. No need for that...just make the call. 🕺
Here's where you can access a lot of content for free:
* Follow me on LinkedIn - You'll get short pro-tips and reflections on major gift fundraising every day between 5-7am pacific.
* Breakthru Newsletter - As you've seen here, these are longer weekly posts (audio and written) sent directly to your email.
* Breakthru Blog - the newsletter from the previous week gets posted here each week for everyone (so email subscribers get it a week early).
* Breakthru Podcast - Interviews with high net worth givers about how we as fundraisers can get better at inviting them to the party. And audio readings of Breakthru Blog posts.
Before getting to the PAID stuff: My opinion is that no small ministry with a tight budget should be spending more than $3-5k (total) for major gift coaching/consulting. Most of you will be good-to-go spending far less than that. This was a major issue for me when I was a frontline fundraiser - major gift consultants were an expensive 'black-box-of-confusion' for me. That stops now.
Here's the PAID stuff:
* Online Catalyst Course - This is a full brain dump of my 28+ years of experience - good, bad, ugly. It's built around the fundamentals, the sacredness, and the fun, of major gift fundraising. It's infused with Henri Nouwen reflections. Many people can take this course and they will be 'cooking-with-gas' and not need any additional coaching from me on the core systems. I'm grateful that this course has gotten *great* reviews.
* Live coaching with me - I refer to this as "brain rental". The ROI on live coaching, as you might imagine, is extraordinary.
Finally, be sure to connect with my colleague Ivana Salloum. She's super awesome and can help with scheduling and access to resources, etc.
I look forward to hearing about your good work!
Blessings,
