If you are not feeding new prospective major gift donors into your pipeline on a regular and systematic basis, sooner or later your efforts are going to stall. So, whether you are new to fundraising or have been active in the profession for years, this is a resource that can help you build new relationships and add good prospects to your portfolio.
The book provides specific strategies that will increase your odds for success when you are ready to meet your donors. You will learn to “warm” your prospects so they are receptive to your outreach, to make allies of the gatekeepers who control access to the decision makers, and to conduct a qualification call that is both casual and purposeful. All of these methods are designed to initiate a comfortable and meaningful relationship that will one day result in a significant philanthropic investment.
How important is the task of mastering the discovery call? Take a look at the average portfolio of a major gift officer. A number of industry benchmarks indicate that if there are 150 individuals in a fundraiser’s portfolio, as many as half of them (seventy-five) might be prospects/suspects who haven’t yet been properly qualified. Therefore, it is critical for today’s development professional to become proficient in prospect qualification.
John Greenhoe presents his advice, insights, and tips in a straightforward and logistically sequential fashion. He starts with the reasons why qualification calls are important and then delves into researching your prospects. He then gives practical tips for negotiating voice mail and gatekeepers en route to successfully making the appointment.
Greenhoe also covers the actual format of the discovery call, including suggested scripts that you may wish to employ during your face-to-face visit. He also looks closely at strategies for conducting follow-up calls and then concludes with a look at future trends.
The qualification of donors is, generally speaking, not an easy task. Hard work and discipline are essential. At the same time, bringing new donors to your organization can be a lot of fun. Following the techniques of this book, you’ll meet some amazing people, many of whom will share your passion for your nonprofit.
Bottom line, if you follow the strategies detailed in this book, you will be successful.
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About the Author
John Greenhoe, CFRE, is a senior advancement professional at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan) who has trained thousands in the art of major donor identification and 
qualification. Greenhoe has also raised millions of dollars for both large and small nonprofit organizations and taught fundraising master’s level courses at two universities. A popular speaker, he has delivered national and international philanthropy conference presentations in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. Greenhoe began his fundraising career as director of development for the Greater Kalamazoo Area Red Cross, where he initiated comprehensive major gift and planned giving programs. He has a master’s degree in philanthropy and development from Saint Mary’s (Minnesota) University, which features a strong ethical grounding in its fundraising coursework. Greenhoe is a contributor to noted fundraising publications, including newz viewz (New Zealand), VITA (Italy), AFP’s Advancing Philanthropy, and Stevenson Inc.’s Major Gifts Report. He resides in Kalamazoo with his wife, Gretchen, and daughter, Anya.
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