I am all about making more asks. So when I pulled my team’s metrics after three quarters, I wanted to see if the data backed up that idea. It didn’t just support it – it proved it. The fundraisers on my team who are at or above goal are the ones making the most asks.…

We just finished the third quarter of our current fiscal year. As a manager of a fundraising team, I wanted to get an overview of my team to see what is going well and what needs improvement with only three months left in the fiscal year. To help with this, I came up with the…

If you’re a major gift fundraiser, you know one of the most annoying parts of the job: entering contact reports after donor visits. It’s a task that always seems to get pushed aside. You get back from meetings, jump on calls, answer emails, and before you know it, a few days have passed and the…

If you manage a university board, you already know that the meeting itself is not the work. The meetings are obviously important, but if engagement only happens three times a year around a conference table, you’re not doing it right. Board members don’t just want to attend meetings. They want to contribute. And after every…

I believe great fundraising leadership happens in high-quality coaching conversations. The 1:1 meetings between manager and fundraiser should help drive performance, create clarity around priorities, and keep momentum moving on open proposals. Rather than spending time on status updates alone, the goal for managers should be to ask questions that help our fundraisers think strategically…

If you want access to top donors, relationship mapping has to be part of your fundraising strategy. Relationship mapping is the process of utilizing the professional and personal networks of your board members, staff, and existing supporters to uncover paths to new prospects. There’s no substitute for a trusted introduction. A cold email might get…

As a manager of frontline fundraisers, there’s one task I know I should be doing and almost never have enough time for: reading visit contact reports. These are the reports fundraisers enter into the CRM after meeting with a prospect. They’re often detailed, multiple paragraphs long and there are a lot of them. Reading every…

Every Monday, I receive a spreadsheet with the metrics for all the fundraisers on our team. It’s filled with columns of goals, visits, asks, closes, and percentages. But most fundraiser metrics reports don’t actually help managers manage. You glance at the numbers, look for where fundraisers are behind on their goals, and then give feedback…

Scholarships are one of the most impactful things we can raise money for at a university and every fundraiser needs a clear, confident pitch when talking with donors about them. Here are five core points every donor should hear from you about the importance of giving to scholarships. 1. Scholarships Change Lives & Open Doors…

Most major gift stories get reduced to one line: “Met with donor. Gift closed.” But every fundraiser knows that’s not how gifts actually happen. Behind almost every meaningful gift is a series of engagements: introductions, conversations, follow-ups, and colleague partners that build toward trust. A lot of people do not understand what goes into making…