
Linda Lysakowski’s Guide on How To Build Case for Support
January 7, 2024
Re-Imagining Major Gifts – Book Review
February 7, 2024Major Gifts Ramp-Up Review – This Event Startled Me is a transparent take on my recent Major Gifts Ramp-Up Conference experience. Let’s review this event FROM START TO FINISH (Good or Bad). Here we go!
When I was first invited to attend a Major Gifts Ramp-Up Event, I looked at the marketing materials and thought, “This Jimmy LaRose is out of his mind! He is challenging everything I’ve learned and everything I’ve been doing for the last thirty-five years in our profession:
- You shouldn’t expect your board to fundraise!
- Feasibility studies are a waste of time and money!
- The board works for the CEO!
But then I looked at some of the things the MGRU was promoting that I had been preaching throughout my entire career:
- Grants are not the ideal way to raise money!
- Fundraising events are the biggest waste of time and money a nonprofit can do!
- Eighty percent of all giving comes from individuals!
- Foundations and businesses are run by PEOPLE!
- The first thing you need to do is to prepare well for fundraising—have a well-crafted case for support and a clear plan of action!
“This Jimmy LaRose is out of his mind! He is challenging everything I’ve learned
and everything I’ve been doing for the last thirty-five years in our profession”
Well, clearly the scales were tipping in favor of the Major Gifts Ramp-Up model, so I signed up. After listening to Jimmy LaRose and Stefanie Stark, I felt I had found kindred spirits. For years, I have been teaching that there is a reason we were born with two ears and one month—we need to listen more than we talk. Especially when we are seeking major gifts. I was so tired of all the workshops, webinars, blogs, etc. about the importance of storytelling, I wanted to throw up. Stephanie hit the nail on the head when she said we need to do story-listening. It is exactly what my thirty-five years in this profession taught me—listen to your donors’ story and determine their needs and desires before you ever ask for a gift.
Major Gifts Ramp-Up Review – This Event Startled Me
VISIT HERE TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN ATTEND A MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP EVENT
The other thing that resonated so well with me was Jimmy’s hate for the old sales technique, “He who speaks first loses.” Although for years I have taught my people the greatest key to major gift fundraising is to make the ask and then, SHUT UP. Don’t answer for the donor! Yes, silence is golden but neither Jimmy nor I feel that the one who speaks first loses. In fact, they won! The asker has listened to their story, asked them about their interests, determined what their philanthropic goals are, and only then does the fundraiser ask them to consider a gift in the range of $500,000 (or whatever you have determined is an appropriate ask amount). And then the fundraiser waits while they consider the ask, mulls over the project needs and determines if those needs meet their own priorities, and asks any questions they might have.
“After listening to the excitement that was evident in the participants
in Major Gifts Ramp Up, I began to see how overdue this type of
fundraising has been for the nonprofit sector!”
After listening to the excitement that was evident in the participants in Major Gifts Ramp Up, I began to see how overdue this type of fundraising has been for the nonprofit sector. There was a huge sigh of relief coming from nonprofit leaders who had always been told (including by me) how to recruit board members that will fundraise, how to train your board in fundraising, and how to get them to give. I reexamined my own thinking in this area and thought, “Well in a way I have also been teaching nonprofits that they will never get all their board members to fundraise, but at the same time there are many board members who can help with aspects of fundraising, such as identification and cultivation of donors, and stewarding donors. I also have been teaching for years that you need to get volunteers involved in fundraising. In fact, my first published book was Recruiting and Training Fundraising Volunteers and it is still in publication more than thirty years later. The Major Gifts Ramp-Up shows you how to do exactly that—find volunteers who will invite their friends to attend an awareness event, and later an ask event, and ultimately be asked for a transformational gift—transformational for the nonprofit and for the donor.
“There was a huge sigh of relief coming from the audience who had
always been told (including by me) how to recruit board members
that will fundraise, how to train your board in fundraising, and how
to get them to give. I reexamined my own thinking in this area!”
What is the biggest concern I have heard from attendees at Major Gift Ramp Up conferences? How do I find time to do this? Sometimes a large organization with a decent-sized staff CAN implement this model on their own. More often than not, the nonprofit needs help. So, who are they going to call? The myth-busters—the experts at Major Gifts Ramp-Up programs.
VISIT HERE TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN ATTEND A MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP EVENT
The other thing that really impressed me, as a consultant of more than thirty years, was the quality and enthusiasm of the MGRU consulting team. Most of the Major Gifts Ramp-Up counselors have been former clients—they actually implemented this model in their own Institutions and then decided they wanted to help others succeed in raising major gifts in an efficient and relatively painless way. As a consultant myself, yes, I raised money for several institutions before hanging out my shingle, as most consultants have. But this was different. These counselors had followed a well-designed plan to the letter, found it successful, and then wanted to help others succeed as easily as they had done. And they work as a team to deliver results to their clients. You get a whole package of experts.
So, for most people that attend a Major Gifts Ramp-Up Event the next logical step is “How do I implement this model in the limited time I have available? Turn your world upside down for the better! Call Myth-Busters.”
VISIT HERE TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN ATTEND A MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP EVENT
Major Gifts Ramp-Up Review was first posted at Linda Lysakowski
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