The Truth About High-Performing Major Gift Officers

CDOs are always looking for ways to monitor, evaluate, and improve MGO performance, but the absence of industry benchmarks makes this task challenging. To meet the growing demand for industry-wide MGO performance data, our Philanthropy Leadership Council experts asked 132 major gift officers from 40 institutions to tell us about their activities and performance. This … Continue reading The Truth About High-Performing Major Gift Officers

Rethinking the Future of Donor Visits

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a “new normal” throughout the nonprofit sector, as it has for many other sectors. Frontline fundraisers in particular spend many hours traveling and meeting face-to-face with donors. The recent transition to remote learning and working has prompted many fundraising offices to pivot and learn how to conduct business by way … Continue reading Rethinking the Future of Donor Visits

How much do we really know about why we give to charity?

Charity has become big business, though it's hard to say how big: there's little good data. One recent study estimates the British, for example, donate 54p in every £100. That's three times more than the Germans but three times less than Americans give. This article from the BBC dives into the history of fundraising methods … Continue reading How much do we really know about why we give to charity?

The role of prospect research in major donor fundraising

As part of an MA in Philanthropic Studies (undertaken at the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent), Nicola Williams completed a study which aimed to identify the role that prospect research plays in major donor fundraising. The study involved a survey, undertaken in 2018, of major donor fundraisers and prospect researchers working in … Continue reading The role of prospect research in major donor fundraising