Advancement Articles
It's my sincere hope these articles help you work through any big questions you may have about the wonderful work we do. If you don't see your question answered below, I encourage you to send it my way via email.
Most Recent
The Basics
Jun. 13, 2018
How Do We Create a “Culture of Philanthropy” At Our Schools?
Sep. 12, 2018
How Can We Get Better at Asking Parents for Gifts?
Mar. 13, 2019
How Do We Become Schools That Truly Value Teachers?
Mar. 10, 2021
How to Start a Major Gifts Program at Your Independent School
Oct. 06, 2021
Three More Things All Great Schools Do In Advancement
Oct. 20, 2021
The Final Three Things All Great Schools Do In Advancement
May. 08, 2022
Welcome to the Nirvana School
Engaging With Donors
Sep. 27, 2017
How Do We Write a Really Good Annual Fund Letter?
Nov. 08, 2017
What Are Some Low-Cost High-Impact Gifts We Can Give Our Donors?
Mar. 07, 2018
How Do We Prepare for the Biggest Ask of Our Career?
Aug. 08, 2018
How Do We Write a Welcome Letter to the New Parents at Our School?
May. 08, 2019
How Do We Create Word-of-Mouth Buzz With Our Donors?
Sep. 06, 2019
What Should We Do When We Make a Donor Angry?
Feb. 12, 2020
What Are the Dangers of Having an Angel Donor?
Feb. 04, 2021
Giving Circles Taken to the Next Level
Apr. 10, 2022
The Best Question You Can Ever Ask a Donor
Jul. 26, 2022
How We Can Get Rid of That Terrible Thank You Letter
Fundraising Tactics
May. 09, 2018
How Can We Make Sure Our School’s Annual Report Isn’t a Scam?
Nov. 07, 2018
How Do I Get Rid of My School’s Phonathon and Raise More Money?
Dec. 12, 2018
How Can We Make Our School’s Annual Auction More Successful?
Jan. 07, 2020
How Can You Know if Your School is Prepared for a Capital Campaign?
Sep. 30, 2020
How Do the Recent Tax Changes Impact Giving?
Oct. 06, 2020
How to Quickly Create a Legacy Program at Your Independent School
Feb. 19, 2021
Ignoring “The Gap” and Moving Away from a Scarcity Mindset
Nov. 30, 2021
Major Gifting with Elizabeth Carter
Aug. 08, 2022
How Can We Earn the Opportunity to Make That Big Ask?
Oct. 03, 2022
What Makes a Great Case for Support?
Our Team
Dec. 13, 2017
How Can We Show Our Team That We Appreciate Them Every Day?
Apr. 11, 2018
How Can We Cultivate a Strong Relationship With Our Head of School?
Apr. 10, 2019
How Can We Train Volunteers To Be Superstars For Our Campaigns?
Dec. 08, 2020
Taking Care of Our Heads — of School, That Is
Feb. 20, 2021
Let’s Hear it for the One-Woman Development Office
Mar. 10, 2021
What Do We Want New Parents at Our School to Feel?
May. 19, 2021
How to Make Yourself Invaluable to a New Head of School
Aug. 10, 2021
Moving Beyond Conflict to Collaboration Between the Development & Business Offices
Advancement in a Crisis
Mar. 04, 2020
Is There a Role for Advancement During a Crisis?
Mar. 18, 2020
How Can We Practice Stewardship During the Coronavirus Shutdown?
Apr. 06, 2020
How Can We Think About Raising Money in a Time Like This?
Apr. 23, 2020
Can We Collect Unpaid Pledges Right Now?
May. 12, 2020
What Are We Actually Raising Money for During This Crisis?
Jun. 01, 2020
How One School Reimagined its Gala and Raised Over a Million Dollars
Aug. 16, 2020
What Would Happen if We Picked Up the Phone and Started Calling?
May. 05, 2021
Finishing Strong in a Strange Year
Jan. 18, 2022
What Have We Learned During Covid That’s Worth Keeping?
Advanced Advancement
Jan. 10, 2018
How Can We Create a Strategic Fundraising Plan That Actually Works?
Feb. 07, 2018
How Can We Know When We’re Done?
Oct. 10, 2018
How Can We Raise Money for Debt Reduction and Cash Reserves?
Aug. 14, 2019
How Do We Get a 100% Return On Our Annual Fund Appeal Letters?
Aug. 17, 2020
How Do We Thank Trustees?
Oct. 12, 2020
How to Approach Philanthropy Through a Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: An Interview with Tesha McCord Poe
Jan. 09, 2021
Finding the Good: How the Advancement Appraisal Works
Jan. 24, 2021
How to Use Permanent Life Insurance to Help A Donor Make Their Largest Gift –Ever
Apr. 16, 2021
What We Can Learn From Banks – and Then Do Very Differently
May. 19, 2021
How Can We Fit In at Our School?
Nov. 16, 2021
Ending Our Engagement
May. 08, 2022
The Two Things You Must Do Before Summer Vacation
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