Do As I Say...AND As I Do
This reflection is for those of you who lead and manage major gift fundraisers (pointing 4 fingers at myself!)...
Recently I spoke with a friend who is a major gift officer of a large humanitarian charity. She told me the following story:
I was in the process of cultivating a relationship with a prospect who indicated he wanted to make an investment of $50k to $100k to our cause. He was very clear about wanting this to be an “investment”, and expressed interest in understanding the specifics of how we would make use of the money. Realizing I would need additional support to see this process through, I brought in a colleague and my boss to help set it up for success. This led to yet another colleague and one of our top field leaders becoming involved. Now there were five people burning calories on this donor prospect. I understood why, however there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
Even though I attempted to diplomatically hand the prospect off to my colleagues, it was clear the chemistry was not good. I continued to hear directly from this donor prospect who had questions and requests. But I did know that my boss had a good history with him, so I suggested that he carry the baton. I hadn’t seen my boss “in action” very much and was curious to see how it would go!
I told my boss that this prospect was very interested in specific program details, but he pushed back…
“No,” he said, “we just need to show him the impact and results of his giving. He doesn’t need to see the ‘sausage-making’.”
“But he does,” I insisted, “He’s going to need those details before making the investment.”
I decided to defer to my boss’s approach…he’s the expert right?
Well, a few weeks later we spoke and he updated me on the progress with this prospect. I held my tongue as he said: “We’re going to need to show him more details on the programs, how they are actually run in the field, and how money is being allocated.” I smiled inwardly and simply replied, “Yep, that sounds like a good idea”.
I was curious how this story turned out so I contacted my friend a few weeks later to ask about it. She said it was fun and educational to watch her boss in action (which doesn't happen often). She noted that once he tuned in to what the donor wanted he did a great job communicating. The potential of receiving this donor’s investment was looking like a win.
And then, about 3 weeks later, I got this text: “J.Paul - $50,000 arrived yesterday and the donor committed to send another $50,000 next year!”
So, to all my friends out there who are leading teams of major gift fundraisers, two takeaways from this story:
- Listen to your people. If they are suggesting an approach you disagree with, defer to them as much as possible. More often than not, it will work. And if it doesn’t, celebrate failure and help them get back on the horse with a different approach.
- Don’t hesitate to get out there and show them how it’s done! “Demo or Die” - Your team will love seeing you in action, and they will learn so much through your example about this amazing and sacred vocation.
I’m pulling for you all! Let me know how things are going in your world.
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I look forward to hearing about your good work.
Blessings,
