In an era where 95 percent of the money comes from just five percent of the donors, securing major gifts is paramount for educational institutions. And yet, major gift fundraising programs are often managed using practices and rules of thumb that have not changed much since the 1980s. Moreover, the typical metrics used to gauge fundraiser performance are more indicative of raw activity than actual gift outcomes (that is, the number and size of major gifts). Join David Lively, Senior Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development and Campaign Manager at Northwestern University, as he asks probing questions about how best to measure outcomes instead of activities, and how to end counterproductive prospect management practices that actually keep some of the best prospects from getting touches or moving toward a proposal.
