Often with ultra-high-net-worth individuals, you only get one shot (like Eminem said) or one meeting a year to ask for a six or 7-figure gift. Or it may come down to one email that matters most in closing their gift for the year. Damn, does every word matter in that email. And if you leave significant money on the table, you usually don't realize until it's too late.

Relationship and Passion matter more than Capacity. You can easily get distracted by someone's wealth and think you should prioritize them, but if there is no relationship or passion, you're wasting your time. How do you evaluate the relationship and where you stand with a donor? How do you know if you can turn $25k into $300k in one conversation and 3 emails? You can learn to do this. And it will change the entire trajectory of your career.

Here's to building authentic relationships with the donors you've got! Show up for them, listen, ask questions, let them know what's going on with you and your organization, share the wins and challenges, and get ready to answer the question "How can I help?"

If you’re looking to raise more money this year, you might want to consider hiring a fundraising coach. Why would you need a coach? Well, for starters, too many fundraisers are left out to dry. They have to figure out how to engage with donors with limited time and few resources. If that sounds like you, a coach can help save you time and make the most of your resources—as well as help you raise more funds.

Sometimes we just need to know what to say. Here are some scripts and some common scenarios among my clients the last 5 years.

Here’s what I see most often: Experienced, effective development director who knows what roles to hire, manages too many staff, juggling strategy, mentorship, annual and quarterly KPIs for executive team and front-line fundraisers, holding it all together – overworked, doing their damndest to support their CEO to raise more.

"I don't have time or bandwidth or capacity (insert buzzword of your choice) to raise more money because I'm bogged down with admin or operations tasks." Does this sound familiar? That's why I'm doing a series on how to create time and space to do the things that will raise more money.

This is what I think you need to hear today — Uplifting, actionable advice and perhaps a lil kick-in-the-pants motivation to get you going. I have a kick-ass podcast that people love called Nonprofit CourageLab. I launched it in Sept 2022 and we hit #3 in the U.S. nonprofit charts that month!

I started my fundraising career in the height of the Great Recession. I get how complex and worrisome it can be. I also know that to be successful, you’re going to need the right strategy and mindset. Listen to the following episodes of my top-rated podcast, Nonprofit CourageLab. You’re gonna wanna bookmark this page to help you in the future. This is a 5-part series curated specifically to help you raise more major gifts in a recession.

You want to do good in the world. There is an impact you hope to have. How do you decide where to donate? How do know where to give? Swipe through this series to learn more about how I make decisions on who to give to and my best tips for you!

People are more generous than you think. Don't count someone out because they already gave. (The data shows that the average giver gives twice a year anyway, even monthly givers give outside their monthly donations.) Just reach out. Serve them. Allow them to be generous. That's who they are.

To be fair there are a LOT of tips I could give you. This one is good. It's a habit that I want you to build and will change EVERYTHING for you, the number of donors you have, engaged supporters who are ACTUALLY showing up for you and your mission, and you'll get the help that you really, truly need from people you engage with.