Perspectives

Last week, you met Penelope and learned how her gift officer started to deepen her inspiration, learned about her interests and engaged her in the university’s work. Now, let’s learn what they did next.

What donors find important when being thanked for their gift. The five P’s of memorable and meaningful thank you notes.

The face of philanthropy is changing. Women give and give generously, but only to those organizations that earn their support.

by Cynthia Woolbright People leave their boss, not the institution. Be prepared to hire the right boss. Based upon his research in leadership, Michael Watkins, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, cautions, “the root cause of transition failure always lies in a pernicious interaction between the situation, with its opportunities and pitfalls, and the…

by Cynthia Woolbright While incremental changes on boards are occurring at our colleges and universities, we are still woefully short from true diversity on our boards. The Association of Governing Board, in its Report on Consequential Boards (2014), recommended that “boards must improve their own capacity and functionality through increased attention to the qualifications and recruitment of…

by Cynthia Woolbright Imagine the incredible things your team can accomplish when they demonstrate World Cup worthy values. Here are five values that might just inspire your team. The USA Women’s Soccer Team kicked the summer off by igniting record-breaking levels of enthusiasm and interest in the World Cup 2019 games. As I followed their award-winning journey, I was taken with the attributes…

James Husson (Boston College) spoke with us about best practices for working with Board advancement committees.

by Cynthia Woolbright In the article entitled, Turning Potential into Success: The Missing Link in Leadership Development, (Harvard Business Review, November-December 2017) senior leadership at the global executive search firm Egon Zehnder cites research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) that found, “Sixty-six percent of companies invest in programs that aim to identify…

The homepage of Lynne Wester’s website cites an alarming statistic: “…the current first-time donor retention rate is 22%.” That statement should strike fear in the hearts of fundraisers everywhere. She goes on to point out that the cost of recruiting a new donor is seven times more than the cost to retain one. Lynne Wester: "Fundraisers are faced with a major problem regarding the…

Perhaps the quintessential characteristic of a fundraising professional is the conviction that he or she has the great fortune to be able to offer donors a surfeit of wonderful opportunities for investment in an outstanding mission. This attribute certainly applies to Pat Campolieta, one of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s talented principal gift officers. “One of the many benefits of…

Presented by Cynthia WoolbrightFounder & President, The Woolbright Group Wednesday, February 6, 2019 Session Overview: In the role of a responsible fiduciary, a Board of Trustees is trusted to faithfully advance the mission and goals of the institution, steward institutional resources, participate constructively in the work of the Board and its committees, represent the institution in word and…

  When you are in the middle of a $400-million-dollar comprehensive campaign, as is Tracy Barlok at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, you don’t have a lot of spare time.  So we were grateful when Tracy granted us a few moments to answer our questions about what is trending among donors right now, the competition for donors’ dollars, diversity in the donor pool, and other…

Interview with Jessie L. Brooks, CFRE, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia Spelman College has long earned the admiration and support of female philanthropists inspired by the remarkable women who attend this historic school. Women philanthropists do of course give generously to other colleges and universities, but if ever there was a shining example of…

Conversation with Josh Wyatt, University of Arizona; Amy Bronson, Boston University; Holly Wolk, University of Rochester; Amy Lavi, The University of Michigan Amy Bronson (Boston University): “Active engagement across the team: people care about outcomes and find ways to work together towards a common goal, fostering collaboration, mutual respect and willingness to not only be their best selves,…

Ithaca College’s “ring” model is designed to set students on a path to volunteerism that takes some all the way to the Board of Trustees.

Interview with Matthew T. Lambert | Vice President for University Advancement at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia With women controlling an ever-larger slice of the financial pie, university advancement teams across the country are taking a hard look at how to tailor fundraising strategies to meet the priorities and interests of women donors. When Matthew Lambert returned to his alma…