Talisman Thinking Out Loud

Veritus Group – How to Keep Fundraisers

December 8, 2016 at 3:35 am Barbara Talisman, CFRE Leave a comment

I share posts that provide great fundraising thought leadership or those that make me think differently. Jeff and Richard at the Veritus Group continue discussing why major gift officers stay. I have to agree with them – clear boundaries and structure are key. Internal relationships are as important to fundraising success as external. Their full post can be read here.

Jeff writes, the italics is mine:

Clear and coherent job descriptions — From the very beginning, you set the tone with the MGO when a prospective MGO reads the job description you have put together. You can read more about what all that entails here, but a good job description is very specific and is clear about expectations and what the MGO is being evaluated on. This is the beginning for the MGO to understand that there are boundaries. Some of the job descriptions Richard and I have seen are horrid. You can keep good MGOs if, from the beginning, the MGO has clear expectations.

Evaluation — Great management for MGOs includes ongoing evaluation. Don’t just do this annually as you’re required to; MGOs need constant feedback. Have quarterly check-ins on performance. Give immediate feedback on strategies that your MGOs come up with. When I’ve spoken to MGOs who have been at an organization for over five years, one of the reasons they said they have stayed is that they know where they stand. They know how their manager feels about their work. They know they have been progressing because they get that feedback from their manager.

Weekly Meetings — Remember I said that MGOs need constant feedback? This is why when we work with MGOs, we meet with them on a weekly basis. This allows us to give immediate feedback regarding different moves, actions and strategies that the MGO is making. It also allows you as the manager to keep your MGOs disciplined, accountable and focused. To be honest, many times when we first implement these weekly meetings, the MGOs resist. They don’t like it; but then over time, they realize the power it has to keep them focused and to get positive feedback. Within a couple of months, the MGOs who push back the hardest on weekly meetings say it’s now the best thing for them.

Structure — MGOs who stay with an organization do so because they know what their job is and what their focus should be on. Creating a structure for your MGO, which includes having no more than 150 donors on her caseload, tiering her donors A-C, putting a revenue goal and strategy to every donor and cash-flowing those goals are essential for MGO success. Then it’s critical to allow the MGO to form relationships so she can know what her donors’ passions and interests are, and to understand the donors’ stories on why they give. You will find that when you create this type of structure, the MGO is actually more creative with how she cultivates, stewards and solicits her donors.

Entry filed under: Fundraising, Nonprofit fundraising, Shared Posts, Stuff I Love. Tags: Talisman Post thx @veritusgroup again for #majorgift #fundraising info.