Author: Seize The Weekday

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 business together because of relationships that started at these meetings.

So for this year’s luncheon, with close to 100 board members attending, we wanted to make sure they weren’t just sitting with the same people they already know. We wanted to seat them by industry so they could connect with peers in their own fields, but across colleges. Sounds simple, but with that many people, it’s not.

That’s where AI came in.

I dropped all the names and bios into an AI tool with this prompt:

Act as a seasoned fundraising professional and event strategist. I am hosting a luncheon for 80 members of all the college advisory boards, with each college represented. The purpose of this luncheon is to encourage cross-council connections by seating members with others who share similar professional industries and interests, while ensuring strong diversity of representation at each table. Attached is a spreadsheet with the attendees that has their name, their advisory board and biography for their background. Please: Create five table groupings with clear table names that reflect common industries or interest areas. Assign members to tables based on shared interests/industries, while intentionally mixing members from different boards (avoiding heavy concentration of any one board at a single table). Ensure that the table names feel engaging, relevant, and professional, so they naturally spark conversation among participants. The end goal is for every attendee to leave the luncheon with meaningful new connections across colleges, boards, and industries. Try to make the tables the same amount of people in size (within 4 people).

It’s worth noting: these bios are all public information, and the AI tool I used is secure and recommended by our university.

Within seconds, the tool came up with these grouping with assigned tables for each board member:

• Table 1 – Innovators & Entrepreneurs
• Table 2 – Healthcare, Human Impact & Education
• Table 3 – Media, Marketing & Storytelling
• Table 4 – Technology & Applied Engineering
• Table 5 – Builders & Problem-Solvers

What would have taken hours of manual work was done instantly. And the result? We’re walking into an event where every attendee has a meaningful chance to meet new people in their industry, leave with fresh connections, and feel like their time was well spent.

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 Visit. It may sound obvious, but the data proves it – more asks lead directly to greater productivity.

I reviewed the full set of frontline fundraiser metrics for a fiscal year including visits, commits, and gift asks. And from that calculated each fundraiser’s Ask-per-Visit rate (the percentage of visits where an ask was made). The results were clear. Fundraisers who made asks in 20% or more of their visits were significantly more productive, while those who asked in 20% or fewer visits lagged far behind. Below are the key findings from this analysis:

Higher Ask Activity, More Productivity
Fundraisers above 20% ask-per-visit average 38 asks per year, compared to only 21 asks for those below 20%.

Bigger Impact on Commit Totals
The high ask-rate group averages $1.5M in commitments, while the low ask-rate group averages only $846K. That’s nearly double the productivity.

Efficiency per Visit
On average, high ask-rate fundraisers secure $10,657 per visit, compared to $6,085 per visit for the lower ask-rate group. This indicates that more frequent asking not only increases volume, but also improves the return on each visit.

More Annual Giving Society Asks, More Closes
High askers average 30 annual giving society asks and 16 closes. Low askers average only 14 annual giving society asks and 8 closes.

Overall the 20% ask-per-visit rates are more productive because they maximize the value of each donor interaction. They aren’t actually more effective per ask; they’re simply creating more asks, which compounds into greater commitments and higher ROI on visits.

Email me at adamplatzer@gmail.com if you want more information on this topic and the ChatGPT prompts to do it for your fundraising team.

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.

I recently started using a consistent and strategic 1:1 agenda template and it changed everything. It brought focus, and accountability to every meeting and made a big difference in how my fundraisers approached their work.

Here’s how I break the agenda down:

1. Visits & Travel Planning

Confirmed Visits (Next 2 Weeks): Who are they seeing, when, and why?

Next Two Trips: Where are they headed, who are the anchor visits, and do they need help with any strategy for those visits?

By covering these two topics, it keeps them focused on what’s important: getting visits. I also make sure the trips are focused on the prospects that are a priority right now.

2. Proposals & Pipeline Strategy

Upcoming Asks: Who are they preparing to solicit, how much, and when?

Expected Closures This Quarter: What’s ready to close and what’s the next step?

CRM Hygiene: Are proposal amounts, statuses, and dates up to date? If not, we fix it right then.

Elevated Engagement: Which prospects need leadership involvement? Dean? VP? President?

Recent Visits & Follow-up: What happened, and what’s next?

This section builds accountability and gives me, as a manager, a real-time view of where we stand with gifts that will book soon.

3. Current Roadblocks

What’s slowing them down? Sometimes it’s internal processes and sometimes it’s external donor issues. But we figure out ways to fix these problems immediately.

4. Wins & Momentum

We end every 1:1 with some of their big wins. This keeps things positive and some of the highlights I will bring up to the whole team at bigger meetings.

Final Thoughts

The best part is my team now shows up to 1:1s prepared. They know the structure. They know we’re going to focus on meaningful work and not just updates.

If you want your team to open more proposals, close more gifts, and spend more time with the right donors, give them structure. Start with a solid 1:1 agenda.

Want a copy of the full template I use? Email me at adamplatzer@gmail.com.

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 many open proposals as everyone else. Not surprisingly, they also closed the most gifts. No matter how you look at it, the number of proposals opened is the single most predictive metric of fundraising success.

So the question becomes:
How do you help your team open more proposals?
Here are four practical ideas that can try:

1. Make Proposal Reviews a 1:1 Priority
Every time you meet with a fundraiser, take a look at what they’re planning to ask for. Set a timeline for when they’ll make the ask, and talk through any roadblocks or prep needed.

2. Run a Monthly Proposal Blitz
Once a month, dedicate a week where the whole team focuses on opening 1–2 new proposals. Give them templates and have managers host 1:1 coaching strategy sessions.

3. Build a Proposal Leaderboard
Put up a monthly leaderboard that tracks how many new proposals each fundraiser opens. You could make make it look like a golf tournament leaderboard!

4. Give Out Proposal Awards
Every month, hand out a few awards like “Most Creative Proposal” or “Best Collaborative Pitch.” Our top performer gets a championship chain to wear for the month and people love it!

If you want to improve outcomes, create a culture where opening proposals is a shared, celebrated goal. Let me know if you have any ideas for getting your team to open more proposals – adamplatzer@gmail.com.

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 find a set of video tutorials designed to:

• Maximize your productivity: Get organized with a smart approach to your schedule and outreach.
• Increase donor visits: Learn tactical tips that help you secure more meetings with high-capacity donors.
• Enhance solicitation success: Polish your pitch and ask with confidence and clarity.
• Hone in on top prospects: Use data-driven strategies to zero in on the donors who matter most.

What I love about this series is how practical and action-oriented it is; no fluff, no filler. Each video is short but packed with immediately usable tips you can apply to your strategy today.

Whether you’re new to major gifts or deepening your expertise, these videos are a great resource to build momentum and sharpen your skills. You’ll walk away with clear tactics to streamline your process, better connect with donors, and, ultimately, bring in bigger gifts.

Let me know what you think after watching. I’d love to hear which tips you find most impactful, and if you’d like to dig deeper on any topic!