Blog
Sharing insights, strategies and inspiration you can use right now.
This is where I share strategies, action steps, and ideas for scaling major gifts, and answers to questions that matter most right now.
How to Secure and Steward Major Gifts of Stock, DAFs, and Other Non-Cash Assets
This is for major gift officers, development directors, and nonprofit CEOs who want to grow major gift revenue without leaning harder on cash donors who are already stretched. After reading this, you'll be able to spot the donors most likely to give a non-cash asset, open the conversation in a way that respects them and their advisors, and steward the gift so well they want to do it again.
144. Beyond Cash: Unlocking Asset-Based Major Gifts
This is for major gift officers, development directors, and nonprofit leaders who want to grow major gift revenue without leaning harder on the same cash donors. By the end of this post, you'll know how to spot the donors most likely to give a non-cash asset, how to open the conversation warmly, and how to steward the gift so well your donor wants to do it again.
How Do I Align With My ED or CEO on Major Gifts Strategy?
Managing up is one of the most underrated skills in major gifts. The fastest way to align with your ED or CEO is to translate your front-line donor experience into the language they use with the board: shared goals, realistic timelines, and a steady rhythm of briefings that mix data with story. If you lead major gifts, this is how you earn room to do the work the way it needs to be done.
143. Leading from the Major Gifts Seat
In this week's episode, “Leading from the Major Gifts Seat,” of The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast, I talk about managing up as a leadership practice, including the empathy shift that changes everything and the briefing template I use with my own clients.
Storytelling for Sophisticated Major Donors
In this week's edition of Scaling Major Gifts, I share: The Story Spine framework I use with major donors (5 simple beats); How to weave data inside the story, not bolt it on after; How to tune the same story for an investor vs. an educator donor; and Why dignity-first storytelling is non-negotiable in 2026.
Read this week's edition and share it with your team and leadership. The donors are waiting for both the heart and the proof.
142. Story and Data: What Major Donors Really Need
On this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast, "Story and Data: What Major Donors Really Need," I break down:
Why even your most analytical donor needs an emotional connection; The Story Spine: a 5-beat framework for major donor narratives; How to weave data inside the story, not bolt it on after; and Why dignity-first storytelling is the new bar in 2026.
Elevating the Donor Meeting: From Update to Co-Design Session
This week's Scaling Major Gifts newsletter walks you through a simple meeting structure that turns a routine check-in into a real co-design session.
141. Designing Impact Together with Donors
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast, “Designing Impact Together with Donors,” I walk through the full co-design meeting flow, the donor psychology behind why it works so well, and the simple tools and digital aids that make it feel natural. If you have ever left a donor meeting thinking "that was fine, but we did not really get anywhere," this episode is for you.
Leveraging Peer Influence and Giving Circles in Major Gifts
In this week's edition of the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter, I explore how to leverage giving circles and peer hosts thoughtfully, including the guardrails that protect against pressure and mission drift.
140. Peer Power: Ambassadors and Giving Circles
This week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast is called "Peer Power: Ambassadors and Giving Circles." I share the story behind a gift that came in because of a peer, walk through the four most useful peer roles I've seen, and offer design tips for peer-led gatherings that feel like an invitation, not a pitch.
Major Gift Metrics that Actually Drive Behavior
In this week's edition of the Scaling Major Gifts newsletter, I'm walking through the metrics quietly demoralizing your best fundraisers, the small set of leading indicators worth tracking, how to use AI inside your CRM to surface patterns, not punishments, and a simple "metrics reset" you can run with your team this month.
139. Rethinking Major Gifts Metrics in 2026
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast, I'm sharing why the metrics most major gift programs lean on, raw visit counts, dollars to goal, dials made, often miss the actual work.
Portfolio Optimization: When and How to Let Go of Prospects
In this week's edition of Scaling Major Gifts, I share the four lenses I use to decide who stays active, who graduates, who pauses, and who needs another look. I also walk through how to bring your leadership along so quality, not quantity, becomes the story you tell.
138. Pruning Your Portfolio to Grow Your Results
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast, I walk through the four lenses I use to decide who stays on an active portfolio, who graduates to stewardship, and who pauses for now. I also share the language to use with leadership when you propose a leaner, sharper list.
Designing Transformational Gift Offers Donors Can Actually Say Yes To
In this week's Scaling Major Gifts newsletter, I share a simple blueprint for designing offers donors can say yes to with confidence. The five elements. How to structure multi-year and blended commitments. How to co-create with your best donors instead of pre-packaging.
137. Crafting Offers for Transformational Giving
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, I walk through the anatomy of a truly transformational gift offer. The five elements that belong on one page. The multi-year and blended structures that feel doable to your donor. And the co-creation conversation that turns a good offer into a great partnership.
Deepening Donor Trust with Radical Clarity and Feedback Loops
This week's Scaling Major Gifts newsletter is all about building that kind of trust, on purpose, with practical tools you can put to work right now.
136. Trust-Building Conversations with Major Donors
In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, I'm sharing everything I know about building deep, lasting trust with major donors, even when things don't go as planned.
The New Nonprofit Tech Stack for Major Gifts
This week's Scaling Major Gifts newsletter is all about cutting through the noise. I walk you through the four core tech categories that actually matter for major gifts work (hint: it's not that many), a simple five-criteria check to evaluate anything in your stack, where AI genuinely fits (and where it honestly doesn't), and a 90-day "stack tune-up" plan to help you retire what's not working and feel good about what is.
135. A Modern Tech Stack for Major Gift Success
Today, we're talking about your tech stack, what belongs in it, how to evaluate what you've already got, where AI actually fits in major gifts work, and how to do a ninety-day tune-up that genuinely frees your team to focus on what matters most: donors.