Major Gifts Fundraiser Podcast-Hosted by Clark Vandeventer

How do you get your donors to choose you? How do you break through the noise. Out of all the non-profits they could love, how do you get them to love you? Clark talks about how he became a Cubs fan, becoming familiar with your donors, getting your donors to choose you, and why he's not a Cubs fan anymore. Get your donors to visit you!

How are you at telling your story? Clark talks about the process he's going through with clients to help them better tell their story and attract new donors -- and tells the story of how he first got into fundraising as a broke college student, tried to get out of non-profit work, and stumbled into the work he was born to do.

You want to close more gifts. You'd like to close more of the gifts you ask for. If you're nervous about asking for gifts, it may be because you've been told no so many times. In this episode Clark talks about increasing your close ratio. Increase your close ratio by continually asking yourself this question: "Is this the next right thing with this donor?" 

You want to have quality relationships with your donors. Good relationships develop on the foundation of many shared experiences and touches. Clark shares 3 simple routines to help you add many more donor interactions and build better donor relationships. Good development work is methodical development work. Develop these routines and be the first organization a donor thinks of when he or she is r...

Just because you have a few different gift thresholds does not mean that you are going to start closing gifts at those levels. Clark makes some clarifications to his previous episode on giving clubs and getting started with estate gifts. Have gift clubs. Talk about estate planning. But don't think you're going to start magically getting people to give at these levels just because the levels exist.

You want to give your donors an easy next step to increase their support. Once they love you, they'll be looking for what's next. Giving levels help your donors see the next step. Clark also talks about getting started with estate planning -- and how you don't need to hire a firm to start inviting donors to include you in their will.

You want to do more than ever before. You want to achieve your maximum potential. Clark talks about how to achieve uncommon success -- and success that's aligned with your values. Goal setting guidelines and ideas for qualitative and quantitative goals for fundraisers.

Are you ready to take on something big? To achieve more than you have ever achieved? To progress further and faster? Part of 1 Clark talking about Goals. Achieving goals is almost automatic. Our brain has within in a goal seeking mechanism that drives us, even subconsciously, toward their goals. Most people don't realize this, and therefore their goals are too small. Clark goes through 7 reasons w...

Good development work is methodical development work. Don't think about moving mountains, think about moving buckets. What's one thing you can do today to move your relationship with just one donor forward? Implement Clark's "one more thing" idea and watch buckets turn into mountains.

Our donors won’t open up to us just because we’ll listen. They have to think that we’re worth talking to. Once you’ve become a trusted adviser, the stories you tell have the potential to be powerful stories . If you’re not a trusted adviser, they’re just stories. Clark goes over key components of a great story. Stories are what spread. Tell great stories that your donors can grab onto and make the...

Donors will judge whether or not what you say to them is true based upon your relationship with them. Here are 10 Traits of Trusted Advisors. Be a Trusted Advisor to your donors.

Do people give to people? You may have heard that people give to people. Clark always says major donors give to mission, but now he says that mission isn't enough.

5 Keys to unlocking major gifts. The keys don't really work alone -- you need all of them. Here's what they are.

 This maybe an unpopular topic, but needs to be addressed.  While most organizations are spending countless hours and resources trying to secure these grants, the vast majority of charitable dollars are given by individuals. 

Is your organization ready to start a Major Gifts Program? If this describes your situation, then yes you are! Your organization has a solid program and has been delivering consistent results You have a big vision and not enough funds to accomplish it You are tired of surviving month to month You are tired of relying on grants You have people you know want to give, but you haven't really done anyt...

 Psychology of winning. Mindset, self-limiting beliefs of fundraisers, and little things that can make a big difference. 

Asking someone to marry you is probably the biggest ask you will ever make. There is a lot that goes into the preparation of that ask, hopefully. Asking for a gift is not all that different.  In this episode Clark talks about how those two asks are alike and what we can learn from them.

Obama and Reagan both taught us that effective messages aren't about you. Facts don't matter, numbers don't matter, definitions don't matter. What matters is, "What does this mean to me?" Use this principle to more effectively communicate with your donors.

Establish these three things before every donor meeting and you will immediately notice an improvement in your donor meetings. You will be giving your meetings a sense of purpose, your donors will sense there is a purpose to your meeting, and they will rise to the occasion of the meeting. These there things also form the basis of the meeting report you write afterwards for your donor file.

In this episode Clark goes through the case study of a particular donor and how they went from a $75 donor to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in outright gifts and charitable gift annuities. You have a million dollar donor on your list. Take the time to cultivate your acres of diamonds.

In an hour long meeting you really only have about 7 minutes to make your pitch. Keep these 13 things in mind when crafting your message.

It takes time for mega-gifts to develop. If you aren't 100% sold on your organization, chances are you'll leave before you get to see these relationships come to fruition. So leave now and get a job with an organization you do love where you will stick around for the long haul.

 Getting over self-limiting beliefs and resentment of other organizations. These things keep us from raising money for our organization! 

 Go through this checklist before you ask your donor for a big gift.   If you like Clark's style and trainings you may like his 1 hour training 5 Keys to Unlocking Major Gifts. It has all his best material condensed into 1 hour, and it's only $17 right now! Click here for details.  

Donor retention is a big problem. One easy way to keep more of your donors is to be sure you have a good onboarding process. This should include 7 thank yous within the first month of the first gift. In this episode Clark shows you how to easily thank your donors 7 times within the first month of their first gift.  If you like Clark's style and trainings you may like his 1 hour training 5 Key...