Major Gifts Strategy – Better Communication
A newly married couple were each given advice for a happy marriage by their parents.
The groom was told to always RESPECT his wife. When you are in an argument, never walk away. Raise your voice if you must, but resolve the issue by staying in the room until you make-up. That’s RESPECT.
The bride was told to always RESPECT her husband. Don’t ever raise your voice. If things get heated, walk away and wait until things calm down. Then go back and continue the discussion in a civil manner. That’s RESPECT.
In their first spat, as soon as the groom raised his voice, the bride left the room! They BOTH felt disrespected.
I have used this story in many contexts. Yet, it has profound value in the nonprofit arena for everything from events to major gifts strategy.
In our work with boards and executive staff in nonprofit mentoring, they tend to agree on values and strategies. For example: more major gifts strategy, less dependency on events, better communication with all donors and increased cultivation, to name a few. We find that as we work closer with the team on definitions and tactics to support the values and strategies, the discussions turn — in some cases — to complete disagreement.
Then we hear, “But we all agreed at the beginning of the process. . . what happened?”
“More major gifts strategy” to the executive director might mean getting the board in a room and creating a list of prospects. The board chair might think that means to “buy a list” of wealthy donors, whatever the cost.
Your goals will be achieved faster when the executives and the board discuss and agree on the DEFINITIONS, while you are making your VALUES and strategy list.
Please share one of your stories, where the shared values were not reflected in shared definitions. We always love to hear from you!
Written by John J. Corcoran
