Real Talk for Real Fundraisers

You probably intuitively already know this: women make up 70% of the non-profit workforce, yet there are huge inequities in pay and leadership positions for women. And the pandemic has made this even worse. Why? In today’s podcast, Richard and Jeff talk with Mazarine Treyz, a successful veteran fundraiser, consultant, author and speaker. They’re joined by Karen Kendrick, Veritus Group’s Director of Learning – and we'll get their perspectives on why we have this inequity, how it came to be, and what can be done to change it. We think you’ll be inspired by these two leaders, and we hope it gives voice to help make changes in the non-profit sector to raise up more women to positions of leadership and equal pay.

You may be wondering what we mean when we say you really need to adopt “The Veritus Way” of major gift fundraising. The Veritus Way is simply the structure we apply to major gift programs, all in the context of building authentic relationships with donors. That structure includes: working with no more than 150 qualified donors in a portfolio, tiering those donors, creating a cash-flowed revenue goal and strategic plan (which includes knowing the donor’s passions and interests and communication preferences) for every donor and having consistent weekly meetings with management to keep the MGO focused and accountable. In this podcast Richard and Jeff talk to Patrick Nugent, Sr. Vice President of Individual and Organizational fundraising at Lyric Opera Company of Chicago. He has an incredible story that highlights how he’s used The Veritus Way in his career and at Lyric Opera, and what a difference it’s made for his organizations’ revenue. You’ll love his story.

This year has been unlike any other, for major gift fundraisers. Your work has been completely upended. Yet here we are, heading into what will be the busiest and best giving period of the year. Or you hope it will be the busiest and best. There are so many uncertainties. You can only control what you can control – what you do with your portfolio between now and the end of December. In today's episode, Richard and Jeff share some tips and strategies on how you can end your year strong. Learn what you need to review, and the steps you can take now, to ensure that you make or exceed your revenue goals for 2020.

Do you want to be a great Major Gift Fundraiser?One trait of all great MGOs is that they are curious people. That curiosity leads to developing authentic relationships. How often do you go to a dinner party or gathering, and you come back and realize no one has asked anything about you? This happens to us all the time. It doesn’t feel good. If you think about it, what a missed opportunity we all have by not being curious about one another. Unfortunately, this also happens with major gift officers. How well do you know your donors? Do you know their passions and interests? Do you know why they have them? In this episode, Richard and Jeff give you a little help by giving you 15 questions that will help you go deeper with your donors, toward developing real relationships with them.

Do you want to get rid of the donors in your portfolio? We would hope not. Yet by the way many major gift officers are cultivating and stewarding donors, you would think they are. In this episode, Richard and Jeff outline ten different ways that MGOs are actively trying to get rid of their donors without even knowing it. Hopefully, you aren’t practicing any of these ten. In fact, if you’re doing the opposite of everything we say in the podcast today, you’re probably a pretty good MGO.  Your work as an MGO, as you know full well, is to build authentic relationships with your donors. It’s not easy, but don’t make it harder on yourself by doing any of the ten things we outline today.

Over the years, MGOs and managers have asked Richard and Jeff if they think MGOs should get bonuses if they meet or exceed their revenue goals. In today’s episode, they answer that question, and you might be surprised by what they say. They also discuss how non-profit leaders and managers should treat MGOs so that they’ll want to stay much longer than the average 1.8 years! Not only will MGOs stay longer if they are treated properly, but it will pay off with donors as they develop trust with the MGO and your organization.

As a major gift fundraiser, do you feel you’re being supported enough so you can be successful? Unfortunately, we run into many MGOs who are basically left on their own, without the support they need to build authentic relationships with donors. In today’s podcast episode, Richard and Jeff discuss the five reasons MGOs fail – and you’ll be surprised that most of the reasons have nothing at all to do with the MGO. We believe that the work of a major gift officer is one of the hardest in the non-profit sector, and that’s why we’re committed to providing you the resources necessary to help you be successful and find joy in your job. Because when you do, it’s the donor that wins!

In most of the higher education institutions where Veritus Group has conducted data assessments, they’re performing terribly. What’s wrong here? Universities have resources. They have dozens (if not hundreds) of major gift officers, researchers, and stewardship officers. And yet what we find is that they don’t have real relationships with donors and alumni. Some of them are still raising millions if not billions of dollars… yet they could be doing so much better forming authentic relationships with donors and alumni! In today’s rebroadcast of an episode from January, Richard and Jeff talk about their experiences with university major gift programs, tell stories about their MGOs, what their challenges are, and ultimately what can be done to turn those programs around.

“You can’t be serious!” This is the reaction Richard and Jeff get from many non-profit leaders when we tell them NOW is the time to start a major gift program. Yes, even in the midst of uncertainty, your organization should either be starting or heavily investing in your current major gift program. Why? Because this is where you’ll eventually see most of your NET revenue come from. Need inspiration to do it? Well, in this podcast episode, our guest is Joyce MacDonald, the President and CEO of Greater Public Media. They’re the association for all PBS and NPR stations around the U.S. Joyce has a great story of how she identified public media’s need to create a real major gift program and what she did to make it happen – and she’ll inspire you to do it yourself! It was no small feat, but Joyce is making it happen.

If you just read the headlines from fundraising news publications, you’d think the sky is falling and revenue from non-profits is tanking. But is it? If you actually get past the “doom and gloom” headlines, you’ll read that giving is actually up in 2020 vs. 2019! What? Yep, giving is up. In this episode, Richard goes on a rant about the effects of these negative headlines, and he urges non-profit leaders to not succumb to them by not reaching out to donors. Then, he and Jeff give you some practical steps to reach out to your donors and ask. Why should you ask? Because they are giving!