Keys to Managing the Major Gifts Process: It’s All in the Execution

Keys to Managing the Major Gifts Process:
It’s All in the Execution

David Mersky

March 6, 2013

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Today’s Speaker

David Mersky
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Mersky, Jaffe & Associates
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The Keys to
Managing the Major Gifts Process: It's
All in the Execution

March 6, 2013

©2013 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

Creating the Plan:
Managing the Major Gift
Moves Process


What is Moves Management?

• A series of steps (moves) for each identified prospect which
“move” prospects from
– Attention
to
– Interest
to
– Desire
to
– Action
• Continually moving to the next gift.

What is a Move?
• Each “move” represents a discrete contact
– Email
– Phone call
– Letter
– Face-to-face conversation
– Planned event

• Background vs. foreground moves

• Cultivation where solicitation does not occur

• One move per month=twelve per year


Goal of Each Move
• In cultivation, hard to quantify goal
• Avoid goals that are too general
• Be realistic—no major gift in three moves
• Sample goals
• Prospect accepts an invitation to a site visit
• You gain better sense of how prospect feels about agency
• You determine if pace of moves and goals is correct
• Best possible and minimal acceptable outcomes


Plan Each Move
• Review key points to cover during the move

• List benefits that will appeal to prospect

• What action are you asking prospect to take? What should be the
next step in the process?

• List questions you anticipate the prospect will ask as well as your
answers


Build the Team
• The prospect or moves manager
– a staffer

• Primary player
– the person to whom the prospect is not able to say no

• Natural partners
– sources of information with strong relationships

• Centers of Influence
– additional sources of information


Role of the Moves Manager
• Develop a strategy for prospect
• Track prospect’s relationship to organization
• Plan moves
• Coordinate primary players, natural partners and centers of
influence
• Execute the plan
• Reconfigure the strategy/refine the plan
• Coordinate refined plan and execute new moves


Manage the Moves Process
1. Identify Prospects
2. Gather partners to provide information
3. Evaluate prospects
4. Track moves
5. Maintain accountability: The Management Team

6. Keep score

1. Identify Prospects

• Review your current database of donors
• Screen for frequency, recency, upgrades and “diamonds in
the rough”
• Engage your board collectively and individually—the hunt
for sources of information and relationships


2. Gather partners
• Distribute a list of suspects
• Ask your board members (preferably individually)
• What is the prospect’s gift capacity rating?
• Do you have access to this prospect—will they return
your call?
• Can you share information about this prospect?
• Comments?


3. Evaluate Prospects


Evaluate Prospects
• Why is this individual a prospect?

• In what has this person expressed interest?

• For what purposes should funding be sought?

• What is the giving capacity? (See donor research)

• What is our present relationship? (Prior gifts & involvement)

• Who are partners/centers of influence?

• What is the “moves” plan for the next year?


4. Track “Moves”

• Single, most critical step in the process
• Discipline and execution
• Call Report
• Follow-up call


Track “Moves”

• Type of Call: • Next Steps
– Foreground – Continue on PM List
• Letter – Remove from PM List
• Phone
– Reassign to other PM
• Email
• In-person
– Background
• Purpose
– Cultivation
– Solicitation
– Other
• Summary—Detailed Notes


5. Maintain Accountability

Monthly face-to-face meeting of the major gifts management
team with reports by each staff moves manager
• Prospect Name
• Capacity rating
• Status—where are they on the continuum
» Identified—10%
» Information gathering—20%
» Interested—50%
» Involved—75%
» Invested—100%
» Post-gift stewardship—120%


Maintain Accountability

• Date of last contact

• Nature of contact

• Next step

• Comments from Moves Manager/Team


Keep Score: Weekly Report
• Date of report
• Number of prospects in the system
• Number of moves planned
• Number of contacts made
• Dollar value of prospects “moved” this week
• Dollar value of prior moves received this week


Do You Have Written Plans?
 Development Plan?
 Special Events Plan?
 Direct Response Plan
 Major Gifts Plan?
 Stewardship Plan?


Get Started
1. Select 10 to 25 of your best prospects
2. Create a file for each
3. Collect easy-to-access research
4. Identify natural partners
5. Consult (confidentially) with natural partners
6. Select a primary player for each prospect
7. Develop strategy and gift objectives for each prospect


Get Started
8. Plan five to ten moves for each prospect

9. Implement moves and after each move
a. Review and record
b. Refine strategy
c. Fine tune next move
10. Review status of each prospect monthly with the major gifts
management team

11. Add and delete prospects as warranted


Manage Your Time
• Four types of prospects
1. Those ready to make a major gift
2. Those needing some cultivation but who would consider a major
gift in the near future
3. Those needing extensive cultivation
4. Those with capability, but little or no reason to give

• Focus on those closest to the major gift
decision—the 10% who can give 90%


The 4 Disciplines of Execution
1. Focus on Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)
– Narrow the focus
– Do not let the “day job” interfere with the narrowed
focus
– Choose only one or two goals at the most, e.g.,
• Number of gifts of $5,000+ increased by X%
• Number of new gifts at $5,000+
• Amount of money in gifts of $5,000+ as compared to last
year
• “Card for Card” increase of all $1,000+ donors

2. Act on Lead Measures
– What enables the team to achieve the WIG
– Differentiate between lag measures—have you achieved
the goal—and lead measures—activities that indicate
whether you are likely to achieve the goal
• Lead measure—in your control—influences and predicts
• Lag measure—out of your control—describes


3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
– Make it visible—agency-wide and graphically visual—
and simple
– Scoreboard that compels action
• Here is where we need to be
• Here is where we are right now


3. (Continued)
– WIG: Increase Major Gifts revenue from $X to $Y
• Lead Measure: Complete four quality visits per staff person
per week
• Lead Measure: Ask for something on each visit
• Lead Measure: Document quality follow-up after each visit
within 48 hours


4. Create a Cadence of Accountability
– Frequent, recurring cycle of accounting for
• Past performance
• Planning to move forward
– This is where execution actually happens
– Accountability is shared


4. (Continued)
– We make commitments and are accountable to
ourselves, each other, the team, our supervisor and the
agency.
– At least weekly
• Account: Report on prior commitments
• Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures
• Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments


Executing the Plan
To obtain a free copy of
Executing the Plan—A
Discipline for Success, go to
http://web.merskyjaffe.com
/executing-the-plan----a-
discipline-for-success/


Mersky, Jaffe
& Associates
Financial and Human Resource
Development Solutions for Nonprofits
800.361.8689 413.556.1074 fax
www.merskyjaffe.com

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