I have been working with a client who has many divisions or chapters.  Like most organizations with this type of structure, all the chapters are not the same just as I have seen with APRA.  I have been connected with APRA on some level or another for the past 16 years.  There are currently over [...]

At an early age we are taught to color with in the lines, be neat, be bold but never be radical.  For quite sometime I did exactly that.  After all, I was not only a boy from theMidwestbut a son of a prominent business man in a small town.  I think my first steps towards [...]

One of the main questions I am always being asked is how many prospects should a major gift officer have in their portfolio?  My initial answer is that it depends on the gift officer and what does the portfolio look like. I remember having two gift officers with very different size portfolios – one with [...]

As many of you may know I am the president of APRA.  For those of you who are not familiar with APRA, it stands for the Association for Professional Researchers for Advancement.  I am not only honored to be in this position but I am fortunate to be the president during the 25th anniversary celebration.  [...]

I was working with a client the other day and I was reminded once again that perception plays such a large role in fundraising.  We all carry perceptions of how non-profits work.  If our perception of a non-profit stops at which sector they are in then we are not doing due justice to our donors.  [...]

I remember when I was a researcher it seemed the primary concern was all about the prospect’s assets.  This is obviously a concern and major consideration during the qualification process for major gift prospects.  However I think the biographical background of a prospect is equally important.   After all, I knew my gift officers were not [...]

Team work and effective communication are essential components in ensuring that we reach our fundraising goals as well as our friendraising goals. A major gift that is received of say $1 million is not the work of just a major gift officer or the president of the foundation. It is through the collaborative effort of [...]

I think I have always been involved in some sort of small volunteer role prior to entering the field of fundraising in 1996 but since that time it has played a significant role in my life and I know that it has greatly enhanced not only my life personally but professionally as well.  When I [...]

One of the important things I have learned in being in fundraising is to never assume.  It is very easy to make assumptions about donors, volunteers and staff.  I am not speaking about not trusting your intuition or gut feeling but assuming that someone or a group of individuals knows something.  For instance when I [...]

The tone around real estate since 2008 has not been very positive.  I don’t think there is one of us who has not experienced a decrease in property value whether it is our own property or that of someone we know.  Real estate of course is one of the publically held assets that we use [...]