[MUSIC] People often ask me, if you're in development, how do you ask people for money? My response is, people have to have an interest in donating. What we call donative intent. I'm not going to be able to persuade someone to make a gift if they don't have donative intent. I might be able to help them make a larger gift by realizing a personal philanthropic goal. But I'm not going to be able to twist someone's arm and just get them to make a gift. So I think this is a common misconception. An effective strategy is to politely seek the prospect's invitation to submit a proposal. This could be as simple as a statement expressing appreciation to them and asking if concepts could be presented for their consideration. Anne, we have greatly appreciated your interest in our programs and the opportunity to get to know you better and learn about your goals. Your commitment to student success is inspiring, and there are a number of ways that your support could be helpful to us. I was wondering if we could share some ideas for your consideration. If done in such a polite way, it is very difficult for the prospect to refuse this approach and for them to decline to even review a concept paper. So the next step is to send the prospect a proposal that makes the case for support and outlines funding opportunities at gift levels targeted to the donor's capacity. After the prospect has reviewed the preliminary information, a meeting is arranged with them to follow up and formalize the gift request. If the prospect takes the meeting with you, that is a very good indication of their inclination to consider and make a gift. In the solicitation meeting, the donor is asked for their reaction to the preliminary information they have received, and based on this feedback, asked to consider one or more of the specific gift ideas presented. The case for support is reviewed by the development officer with emphasis on the importance of philanthropy to the mission of the institution and the donor's key role in providing crucial resources through their private support. The key is to solidify the donor's commitment to a personal goal that they can achieve through their philanthropy and then help them to create a plan to achieve this goal. Anne, we have talked about your goal of making a difference in students' lives and the crucial role of philanthropy in supporting our outstanding young scholars. May I ask you to consider a gift of $100,000 to establish an endowed fellowship fund in your designated area of academic interest? Here's another point where you may want to spend some time and draft such statements for your personal use. So I encourage you to do this. And, again, create some possible ask statements like this that you can begin to incorporate into your personal practice. The prospect's reaction may be an outright affirmation and agreement, which is what we all are looking for, but this is often not the case. More typically, a dialog will occur that involves negotiation on a number of points and factors. Additional information may need to be provided with more refinements to the original proposal around specific ideas that the prospect has. There may also be questions about the tax consequences or the financial implications of the gift that the development officer needs to be prepared to address. The prospect may often need to consult with their spouse or their financial advisers. And the development officer may need to respond later with additional, more specific information. Let's talk about countering objections to issues that will often be raised in a major gift negotiation. For example, the prospect may say that they are interested in the gift idea, but they're not prepared to make a financial commitment now, for any number of reasons, such as unforeseen or increased expenses, such as medical, or perhaps they have children in college. They may have had a change in financial circumstances, perhaps due to the downturn in the stock market. They may have commitments made to other charitable organizations. A key is anticipating these objections and having responses prepared. Such as other gift options, a pledge timeline that incorporates incremental pledge payments, and offering to provide consultative advice on tax questions or other issues the prospect may bring up. Remember, that a not now response is preferable to a no. And with continued cultivation and responsive negotiation, many major gifts that were met with initial objections can ultimately be closed over time. After the conclusion of a successful negotiation process and the signing of a gift agreement, the prospect has now become a valued donor and is moved into the stewardship phase of the relationship. Following acknowledgement of the gift, a plan for regular communication with the donor should be developed so that they can see the gift outcomes and continue to be engaged in your institution. Eventually, they may become prospects for a second, even larger gift. And so, a stewardship is a key, key element in the major gift process. So in conclusion, we've talked about the elements of the major gift process, today. We've talked about the definition of a major gift, which is a nonrecurring contribution at a meaningful level for your organization that will fulfill a need. We've talked about the elements of a successful major gift program, and the organizational factors that support a major gift effort. Including a viable annual giving program, and the support of institutional leadership and volunteers. We've talked about the factors that motivate major giving in donors. Their belief in the cause and the mission of your institution. Their ability to relate to the vision that's conveyed by institutional leaders. Their engagement in the work of faculty and students, as well as the motivation of peers and volunteers. Then, we've talked a quite bit about the four key elements in the major gifts process. Identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. We talked about resources used to identify major gift prospects, and then we've offered some practical suggestions on how to engage with prospects in preliminary qualification meetings. And then, to develop cultivation plans to purposefully move prospects through the cycle of engagement toward a gift decision. Ultimately, we talked a bit about countering objections and the negotiation process that is often involved in securing a major gift. The key factor here is preparation. Anticipating objections and having information available to move prospects from a not now to a gift decision. Again, I hope this information has been helpful to you, and served as a nice overview of the major gift process, with some practical guidance and suggestions for things that you could put to use in your own practice. As well as prompting your interest in researching more in depth into other areas of the topic. Congratulations on your success in securing this major gift, and I hope that this information presented in the module today has been helpful to you. Thank you.
