This is for major gift officers, development directors, and executive directors who are carrying the weight of donor relationships alone inside their own building. After reading this, you'll be able to describe what a culture of philanthropy looks like in practice, name everyday behaviors that build or erode it, and start one simple internal habit that spreads donor-centered thinking beyond the development office.

This is for major gift officers, development directors, and executive directors who want to honor generous donors without absorbing behavior that crosses a line. After reading this, you'll be able to name the power dynamics that show up in major gift work, spot the early signs a relationship is drifting out of balance, and use language that resets expectations while keeping the donor's dignity and your own intact.

This newsletter is for major gift officers, development directors, and executive directors who want to stop chasing information from other departments and start building it into the way your organization works. After reading, you will know who belongs on your internal coalition, how to run a meeting that respects everyone's time, and where to start if you have never tried this before.

This is for development directors, major gift officers, executive directors, and event volunteers who want their donor events to build real relationships without draining the team. After reading this, you'll have a simple framework for planning your next gathering, a short list of formats worth trying instead of or alongside your gala, and a follow-up system that turns a good event into real momentum.

This is for major gift officers, development directors, executive directors, and small teams who want more hours for donor relationships without working more hours overall. After reading this, you'll know the three categories of work that are safe to hand off, see a few low-risk workflows you can pilot this quarter, and have guardrails so none of it ever feels impersonal to a donor.

Inclusive fundraising in 2026 means treating every donor as a whole person with their own story, not a box to check on a diversity slide. If you lead major gifts, development, or a small nonprofit team, this is for you.

This is for fundraisers who want to move beyond the single-gift cycle. After reading, you'll be able to: identify donors ready for a multi-year conversation, use the right language to extend an invitation naturally, and set up a simple stewardship rhythm that keeps recurring donors engaged and renewed.

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.

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.

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.