What I Missed In Last Week’s Guide

Ok folks, buckle up because this one is chock full of some fresh insights in follow-up to last week’s guide. If you didn’t see it yet, I made the case for ditching fundraising targets in favor of engagement-driven fundraising - a model that tracks conversations, connections, and donor experiences rather than obsessing over revenue.

I expected some pushback (and got some). The following is a great summary of the main questions most of you asked in response (thanks Randy🤛🏼) :

"J.Paul - One thing you may want to consider as a follow-up is this: how can the development team or the Development Director can convince upper management that this is the right approach? Tips and tactics on those lines could be really beneficial."

You’re putting me to work and I love it!

It’s one thing to believe in engagement-first fundraising. It’s quite another to convince your CEO and board to embrace this concept, especially when they are conditioned to believe success means hitting a financial goal every quarter.

So, for the Development Director or major gift fundraiser who loves this approach and also needs help discovering how to sell it internally, consider the following summary of ideas to make your case:

👉 Speak their language (This isn’t ditching revenue - it’s leveraging our approach to raising the revenue.)
👉 Show them the math (Retention and long-term giving wins over short-term cash gifts.)
👉 Suggest a low-risk pilot (Test engagement-driven Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] alongside revenue goals.)
👉 Share real-world success stories (research examples that prove this model works.)
👉 Reassure them on accountability (Replace revenue targets with proven KPIs)

Ok, let’s break each one of these down a bit more…

1. Speak Their Language: The Money Still Comes In

Let’s be clear: shifting to engagement-driven fundraising does not mean ignoring revenue. It means tracking and improving the tactics that actually lead to revenue.

If you walk into a meeting and say, "We need to stop focusing on fundraising targets,"  it’s going to raise alarms. Try framing it this way: "I want us to do better at focusing on the activities that actually bring in the most money over time."

Upper management cares more about results than they do philosophy. This isn’t about abandoning revenue goals - it’s about discovering what makes them more achievable.

2. Show the Math: Short-Term Thinking Hurts Long-Term Giving

Most nonprofit leaders understand that pressure to hit a fundraising target leads to bad decisions such as:
❌ Chasing one-off gifts instead of building loyal givers
❌ Relying on transactional tactics that don’t foster relationships
❌ Burning out fundraisers by pushing immediate revenue over sustainable growth

If you can quantify this problem, you’ll have their attention when you:
✅Show how much revenue comes from one-time donors vs. recurring/legacy givers.
✅Compare retention rates of engaged donors vs. donors who give once and disappear.
✅Ask: "What would happen if we spent more time deepening relationships with the people who stick around?"

Most execs don’t want quick money at the cost of long-term stability. Show them how engagement-first fundraising strengthens the organization over time.

3. Run a No-Risk Test First

Executives and boards are often open to pilot programs. They won’t gamble everything - but they will test an idea.

Propose a six to twelve month experiment where your team tracks both revenue AND engagement-focused KPIs (like donor meetings, corporate partnerships, and legacy conversations).

Offer to report back with data:
📊 Did deeper engagement increase giving?
📊 Did fundraisers have better quality donor conversations?
📊 Did givers respond more positively?

If the data shows results, they’ll likely be more willing to alter the metric dashboard.

4. Show Them Another Organization who Successfully Models This

Many leaders, understandably, are risk-averse.  However, they might be more willing to try something new if they see another nonprofit succeeding with the approach.

Share examples like the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance team (led by Keith Wilson, featured in last week’s post), which increased revenue by 30%.

If you can find a similar-sized organization in your sector who is doing this, even better. Leaders love a case study that is directly applicable.

Check out the additional case study links below

5. Ease Their #1 Fear: Accountability

One reason leadership clings to revenue targets is because they create accountability. If you tell them, “We’re shifting focus to relationships,” their immediate fear is: “That sounds…ummm…mushy… How will we measure if you’re doing a good job?”

Answer the question before they ask. Show them engagement-focused KPIs that still create accountability with:

• #️ of meaningful donor meetings
• #️ of referrals from connectors and influencers
• #️ of legacy and major gift conversations started
• #️ of new corporate partnerships explored

Reassure them that you’re not removing financial expectations - you’re measuring what actually leads to long-term success. You’re not trying to persuade them to take a wild leap - you’re helping them take a smart step toward fundraising that actually works.If you would like my help to craft the conversation, please reach out. This is my sweet spot. Sometimes leveraging an outside voice is an effective and positive motivator. Often board members simply haven’t been exposed to these fundraising fundamentals.Have you tried promoting this approach to your leadership? What worked? What didn’t? Let’s swap notes - send me a direct message and put me to work again! 😉

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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,

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Some of you may find the following research helpful:

‍Case Studies

• Volunteer Engagement -> Donations – One nonprofit shifted its focus to volunteer engagement as a KPI, recognizing volunteers as key mission ambassadors. The result was a 45% increase in volunteer retention and a 50% rise in donations within a year, as engaged volunteers became loyal donors. This case demonstrates that deepening supporter involvement (even beyond direct donors) leads to more giving.
• Education Institute (U.S.) – An educational nonprofit facing flat revenues overhauled its donor strategy to focus on personalized engagement and donor recognition. They launched a “Major Donor Club” and tailored outreach to each supporter’s interests. The outcomes were dramatic: a 500% increase in the number of donors giving $1,000+ and annual major-donor revenue skyrocketing from $115K to over $1.5M. This story illustrates how even small-to-mid-sized nonprofits can see outsized gains when they measure and cultivate engagement rather than pushing for one-time transactions.

Data-Backed Evidence: Engagement vs. Target-Driven ModelsRight now, nonprofits retain only 13–20% of first-time donors. That means 80%+ are walking away. If engagement-first fundraising could shift that even slightly, imagine the impact:

• Donor Retention Rates: Most nonprofits today suffer from poor donor retention. On average only ~45% of donors repeat giving year-to-year, meaning more than half are lost annually. For new donors, it’s even worse - nonprofits retained only 13–20% of first-time donors in recent analyses. The data makes the case that keeping donors engaged dramatically improves retention, which in turn grows revenue.
• Lifetime Value and ROI: Building relationships yields a higher lifetime value per donor. Prof. Adrian Sargeant’s research found that just a 10% improvement in donor attrition (i.e. retention) can lead to a ~200% increase in total donor lifetime value for the organization. This is because loyal donors not only keep giving, but over time many upgrade their gifts, give in multiple ways, refer friends, and even leave bequests. Studies also confirm it’s far less expensive to retain donors than to acquire new ones: it costs about 5× more to acquire a new donor than to keep an existing one.
• Donor Experience and Giving Levels: There is evidence that focusing on donor experience and satisfaction leads to greater giving. In the UK, the Commission on the Donor Experience explicitly urged charities to put “the donor, not the fundraiser’s targets, at the heart of fundraising strategies.” In other words, engagement is a quantifiable driver of fundraising success. Conversely, an AFP study notes that an overemphasis on hitting fundraising dollar goals can erode donor relationships - ironically leading to less revenue and support over time. Focusing on genuine engagement isn’t just feel-good: it has data-backed financial benefits, from improved annual fund results to higher major gift conversions.