I recently wanted to take a look at if closing speed had an effect on fundraising success. By closing speed, I mean how long between when an ask is made and when the gift is closed. So I analyzed all the proposals on my team that were: approved gifts, declined gifts, and every open “asked”…

Every fundraiser knows this prospect. They love your mission, they love your university, and they genuinely want to make a big gift. But then they tell you “When my company sells or goes public, that’s when I’ll make the big gift.” Great. But what do you do in the meantime? You play the long game…

Good intuition is one of the most important (and least talked about) traits of a great major gift fundraiser. Fundraisers with strong intuition can walk out of a first meeting and immediately sense, “This person is going to be a great partner for our organization.” They know which prospects are worth their time and which…

The most successful fundraising efforts don’t just come from advancement offices, they come from strong partnerships between college leadership and advancement teams. When deans, directors, and academic leaders see philanthropy as part of their role, everything changes. Here are the best practices we’ve seen from university leaders who consistently help their colleges raise more money,…

We just wrapped a round of board meetings, and I walked away encouraged by what worked and some areas we can improve on Here are the big takeaways: What Worked Well Pre-Read MaterialsSending members pre-read materials (and even a few guiding questions) was a game-changer. People showed up ready to dive in and the conversations…

We had our college advisory boards coming to town. Each board represents its college, but what members love most is meeting each other. Especially folks from other boards. Those are the connections they don’t usually get, and more often than not, those connections turn into real professional opportunities. I’ve seen members go on to do…

In the book, and later the film starring Brad Pitt, Moneyball showed how the Oakland A’s transformed baseball by focusing on one overlooked metric: on-base percentage. It turned out to be the key to building a winning team on a limited budget. In major gift fundraising, I believe there’s a similar game-changing metric: Asks per…

If you’re managing a team of major gift officers, you know that the 1:1 is one of the most important meetings. But here’s the truth: too many of these meetings get wasted. They usually turn into casual catch-ups and a quick look at open proposals. This is not productive and rarely produces actual fundraising outcomes.…

At the end of this past fiscal year, I took a close look at what separated our most productive fundraisers from the rest of the team. It wasn’t who had the best portfolio or even who had the most experience. It was this:They simply opened more proposals. In fact, our top performers had twice as…

I’m so excited to share the Efficient Major Gifts video series on Forward Fundraisers. If you want more effective powerful donor visits, smarter ask strategies, and a laser focus on your top prospects, these short but powerful videos are your new go‑to resource. On this page 👉 Efficient Major Gifts Videos – Forward Fundraisers, you’ll…