Winners of the Mastering Major Gifts Scholarship (June 2019)

Mastering Major Gifts is currently open for enrollment!

First Things First…

Are you ready take your fundraising success to the next level? Here’s what I’m going to share today:

1. The two three winners of the Mastering Major Gifts scholarship giveaway
2. Why I decided to launch Mastering Major Gifts in the first place
3. What Mastering Major Gifts is about, and why it’s important for the future of philanthropy

Why Mastering Major Gifts?

So why did I create Mastering Major Gifts?

Mastering Major Gifts’ primary mission is to help you:

• Learn a proven step-by-step process for raising 5 and 6-figure gifts
• Develop an appropriate pipeline of major gift donors for your organization
• Gain confidence in securing meetings, as well as asking for major gifts

Mastering Major Gifts was created in response to…

• Lack of formal training and mentoring on how to raise major gifts
• Development directors who are frustrated with unrealistic expectations of board members
• Overreliance on grant writing and fundraising events

Over the course of 7 modules, you will…

• Develop specific and realistic, as well as “reach” goals for your major gifts program
• Fill your major gift pipeline with the most appropriate new and loyal major gift donors
• Create personalized cultivation plans for your top prospects
• Learn strategies to get meetings with those hard-to-meet prospects
• Write a strong and compelling case for support

You’ll also…

• Learn new training exercises and best practices for involving your board members
• Acquire time management and accountability tools and techniques
• Develop milestones and appropriate metrics for evaluating your major gifts program

I’ve developed Mastering Major Gifts because I know how important it is to have a major gifts fundraising mentor. This program allows me to become YOUR major gifts mentor to guide you step-by-step to major gifts mastery.

Congratulations to Our Winners!

We’ve heard from so many inspiring development professionals who had SO MANY great entries for the Mastering Major Gifts scholarship contest. Thank you all for all of your amazing and thoughtful entries!

Picking only two winners was VERY difficult.

So we’ve decided to award an additional scholarship! One person who’s already taken the course will receive a full refund and two more people who’ve never taken the course will receive a full scholarship!

We’ve reprinted the winning entries of all three individuals below (with some edits for the sake of clarity and readability).

If you get a chance, please congratulate the winners in the comments section on this page.

Winning Entry #1:

Sharre Whitson writes…

As the famous song goes, so did my development life, “525,600 minutes 525,000 moments so dear… how do you measure a ‘development’ year”. I would like to say that in my years as a Development Director, I spent those moments connecting with donors and developing a major gifts program, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

Moments, hours, days, weeks, sleepless nights were spent holding golf tournaments, auctions, writing small grants and thinking, “I wish I had more time to connect with the donors and really be successful at this major gift thing.” Old habits, busyness, and fear kept me locked in the bottom of fundraising pyramid until I made the profound decision to step off the hamster wheel and enroll in Mastering Major Gifts.

Amy taught me that if I just spend 15,600 (5 hours a week) of 525,600 minutes a year on major gifts, I would be successful in securing major gifts. The support I received through the 7-week course, cohort sessions, and Amy’s monthly calls has changed my life as a Development Director. While the events still take place and grants are still written, the organization I serve now has a purposeful Major gifts program that is my priority and no longer takes backseat to the endless task that succumb a development department.

The results of investing some of 525,600 minutes into securing major gifts have been phenomenal! The moments and minutes of my days spent on implementing and sustaining what I learned in Mastering Major Gifts has resulted in more than a 200% increase in major gifts to the organization! This year, as an organization, we received our first six figure gift which was more than all our special event fundraisers combined!

After completing Mastering Major Gifts, I continue to meet with my Cohort weekly and attend Amy’s calls as often as possible because I am convinced the moments spent will results in huge returns to help kids who are hurting.

Winning Entry #2:

Janine Lawler writes…

I became the DD for Miriam Foundation almost a year ago. Our mission is to empower unique learners and we do that through our three educational programs: Miriam School (PreK-8), Miriam Learning Center and Miriam Academy (9-12).

Like many who work in development, I stumbled into the field years ago and never had formal training. My degree is in political science and my experience is primarily in special events and annual fund campaigns. But I enjoy learning, am great at following a plan (especially with specific instructions and timelines) and love a good challenge.

From what I have read about the program, Mastering Major Gifts looks like a fantastic way to help me take my career, and my desire to fulfill our mission of empowering unique learners to the next level. We are fortunate to have a very engaged board and a strong community of long-time supporters and I would love to be able to give them and myself the tools to be able to raise major gifts.

The most rewarding part of my job is when our parents tell me how much they appreciate what I do because without our fundraising, their child wouldn’t be able to get the help that they need. I believe that Mastering Major Gifts will empower me to empower many more unique learners and I am anxious to get started.

Winning Entry #3:

Susan Weinstein writes…

My organization, Families for Depression Awareness, is a small but mighty nonprofit that helps families recognize and cope with depression and bipolar disorder to get people well and prevent suicides. The time has come for me to step up and become more of a fundraiser, and we know that our future lies with individual giving – particularly in the category of major gifts.

Over the past year, we worked with a Board Fellow to analyze our patterns of giving and propose a strategy for achieving and maintaining financial stability. We have the plan in hand and I would very much like to have a more solid footing in major gifts to support, encourage, and complement the Board’s efforts.

I want the board – and me – to be confident in my knowledge and ability to cultivate relationships with new donors and increase giving from current donors. I believe that the Mastering Major Gifts course would help me immeasurably and provide Families for Depression Awareness with a tremendous boost.

Congratulations to Sharre, Janine and Susan! And thanks again to everyone who participated. 🙂

We welcome our winners (and maybe you, too!) into the Mastering Major Gifts program!

Learn more about Mastering Major Gifts »

And watch your email for an upcoming announcement about our Early Bird Special so you can save $300 on Mastering Major Gifts!