How to Build a Thriving Major Gift Program…It’s NOT what you think

Jeff Schreifels has over 35 years of fundraising experience. He was a non-profit Development Director for 8 years guiding two different non-profits where he learned all aspects of fundraising. In 1996 he went to work for a large direct-response fundraising agency based in Seattle and worked with some of the largest non-profit brands in the country developing strategy to grow donor bases. In 2009, he joined Richard Perry and rebranded Richard’s small major gift consultancy to Veritus Group. Since 2009 Jeff has been a partner and now Principal and Owner of the agency having worked with hundreds of non-profits developing mid and major gift programs and coaching front-line fundraisers.

Jeff’s Message:

Fundraising is actually NOT about the money. It’s about building relationships with donors. If you do that well, the money will follow. Building a relationship-based fundraising program will benefit your organization for years to come. One part of your mission is to help your donors find joy in their giving and help them understand the impact they are making in the world. I want to inspire you to do that.

More: https://veritusgroup.com

In this episode of The Nonprofit Exchange, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff Schreifels, a seasoned expert in nonprofit leadership and fundraising. As the principal of Veritas Group and co-author of the book It ‘s Not Just About the Money, Jeff has dedicated his career to empowering nonprofit leaders to elevate their leadership, strategy, and impact.

We kicked off our conversation by exploring Jeff’s personal journey into the world of philanthropy, which was deeply influenced by his father’s commitment to giving, even during tough financial times. This upbringing instilled in Jeff a strong sense of philanthropy and the importance of building relationships in fundraising.

A significant part of our discussion revolved around the misconceptions surrounding fundraising. Jeff emphasized that anyone can become a successful fundraiser, regardless of their personality type. The key lies in understanding that fundraisers serve as a bridge between donors and their passions, and that genuine excitement about the nonprofit’s mission is essential.

We also tackled the common belief that board members can single-handedly raise funds for an organization. Jeff clarified that while board members can be instrumental in fundraising, they require clear expectations, training, and support from professional fundraisers to be effective. This led us to discuss the importance of defining roles and responsibilities within nonprofit organizations to foster a culture of accountability and success.

Jeff defined philanthropy as the “love of humanity,” stressing that it goes beyond merely raising money. Instead, it is about cultivating authentic relationships with donors and understanding their motivations for giving. He pointed out that when nonprofits focus solely on financial transactions, they risk losing valuable relationships with their donors.

Throughout our conversation, we highlighted the importance of treating donors and staff as integral parts of the nonprofit’s mission. Jeff shared insights on how organizations can create a donor-centered culture by prioritizing communication, follow-up, and impact reporting. He noted that many donors feel disillusioned due to a lack of communication and recognition of their contributions.

We also discussed the distinction between transactional and transformational fundraising. Jeff explained that while transactional gifts can be beneficial for acquiring new donors, the real goal should be to build lasting relationships that lead to transformational gifts. He emphasized the need for mid-level donor programs to ensure that all donors feel valued and engaged.

As we wrapped up the episode, Jeff provided actionable steps for nonprofit leaders to create a donor-centered culture, including embracing the idea that donors are key stakeholders and allowing time for relationship-building. His insights serve as a powerful reminder that fundraising is not just about chasing dollars; it’s about inspiring generosity and fostering meaningful connections.

For those interested in learning more about Jeff and the resources offered by Veritas Group, I encourage you to visit their website at veritasgroup.com. You can also find more episodes of The Nonprofit Exchange at nonprofitexchange.org, where we continue to explore how leaders can transform vision into reality. Thank you for joining us, and I hope you find inspiration in this episode to enhance your own fundraising efforts!

 

The Interview Transcript

Hugh Ballou:

Welcome to the Nonprofit Exchange. I’m Hugh Ballou, the host. I’m also the founder and president of a nonprofit called SynerVision Leadership Foundation, where we teach that synergy is what we create with our teams around the vision. We do important work. It’s important. that we’re able to communicate that to people. Therefore, we build synergy internally, externally. So today, I’ve got a very special guest. And so we’re going to get into the topic of today. It’s not about the money. So we’ll talk about that just a little bit more. So my guest today is Jeff. Jeff, say your last name, please. Rifles. He empowers nonprofit leaders to raise the bar for their leadership, strategy, and impact. So he’s an important guest because this is a topic that comes up a lot in my world. Jeff is principal of Veritas Group, co-author of It’s Not Just About the Money. Jeff has trained thousands of fundraisers and nonprofit executives on what he calls the Veritas Way. We’ll talk about that. It’s a proven system that helps organizations move from transactional fundraising to transformational relationships with their donors. So Jeff, it’s not just about the money. What’s your journey and what led you to do this work with philanthropy?

Jeff Schreifels:

Well, I mean, Hugh, if I have to really look back, it really started with my father. So my dad was a working class guy, was in the Navy, and then he became an electrician. And one of the things, though, that was really important for him is to give away his money, even though he didn’t make a lot of money. Every week, he would call us around the breakfast table after he got paid, and he would show us his paycheck. And then from there, he’d start writing checks out the charity. And so growing up in a household where even if my dad was unemployed, he would still write out checks to charity with the unemployment check. Growing up in that kind of environment, I mean, you have to be philanthropic yourself. And so, you know, I modeled that behavior as a young kid, young adult. And as far as my working in the profession, it kind of happened just because there weren’t any teaching jobs in Philadelphia when I needed one. And so I reached out to a nonprofit and asked them if they had any jobs and they did. And it was around fundraising. And I said, well, I don’t know anything about fundraising, but I’ll learn. And they said, okay, we will hire you. We love your attitude. Learn about fundraising and you can have the job. And so that’s what I did. I learned, I worked my first six years with one organization, small little nonprofit in Philadelphia. And I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned a lot of things. And then I went to another nonprofit in Philadelphia, a little larger, and I learned more things about fundraising. And after a couple of years there, I got hired by an agency that works with nonprofits all over the country. Out of Seattle, worked with large nonprofits. And we did their direct response fundraising, all the email, letters, radio, television, anything to help elicit an immediate response from donors, to build donor bases and to cultivate those donors. And did that for 12 years. And then the former owner of what was called the Domain Group back then, and I, Richard Perry, got together in 2009, and he sold Domain, and then he took his own little part of it, was dealing with some major donor stuff that he was only doing himself, because he really liked major gifts. And I did too, because I worked as a development director, and we came together and took his little consultancy thing that he was only doing on his own, and we formed Veritas Group in my living room in 2009. And so it was the two of us in 2009, height of the recession. And today we have over 40 of us working all over the world, consulting with nonprofits and helping them build, create, build and manage mid and major gift programs. And we also have an online training program called Veritas Group Academy that has trained over 6,000 fundraisers all over the world in how to do mid and major gifts. And so it’s been quite a journey. It’s been super fun. And here’s where we are today. I’m talking to you.

Hugh Ballou:

I love it. That’s a good story. So fundraisers. This is a two part question. Anybody learn to be a fundraiser? And then what misconceptions do you see and how do people overcome those to be a fundraiser?

Jeff Schreifels:

That’s a good question. I do think anyone can be a fundraiser. You don’t have to be an extrovert. I’ve seen really good introverts be great fundraisers But what it takes is the ability to one allow yourself to understand what fundraising really is all about and to understand that you are the bridge between a donor and their passions and interests, and their desire to make a change in the world, and everything that that nonprofit does. And you have to be excited about your mission, the nonprofit’s mission, and the donor, because you have to bring them together. And so if you’re a person Anyone can embrace that philosophy. If you can embrace that, you can be a great fundraiser.

Hugh Ballou:

So we have this opinion in the nonprofit world that, oh, we’re going to put good people on the board, and they’ll raise all the money for us. We can’t really expect board members to be fundraisers, can we?

Jeff Schreifels:

Not like you would if you had your own full-time fundraiser working with you. If you properly set the board up and help them understand what fundraising is about and you, in a sense, treat your board kind of as your staff and hold them accountable and that they’re willing to be held accountable, you can be pretty successful with your board in bringing people on in their sphere of influence and raising funds But it’s not common. It’s something that can be done though. But it definitely needs to be led by a professional fundraiser, someone that is leading that process with the board. So relying to go on the board and, hey, just go out and raise some money without any direction or focus or accountability, it’ll be a disaster.

Hugh Ballou:

And they’re not professionals. I mean, they’re, they’re, they’re not professionals

Jeff Schreifels:

No, but they have passion, right? They have a passion.

Hugh Ballou:

Yes.

Jeff Schreifels:

So you can take that passion and help them.

Hugh Ballou:

This is a leadership issue. So it’s a bit, you get somebody to come on the board. There’s defining expectations. So there’s two parts of this clearly defining your goal and their expectations in that goal. That’s right. And, um, you know, there’s, there’s a covenant relationship here, so From the beginning, you want to define those expectations.

Jeff Schreifels:

That’s right.

Hugh Ballou:

And you want to let them do what you ask them to do. We tend to get in the way, don’t we, as leaders?

Jeff Schreifels:

We do. And we don’t give great direction. So a lot of times, non-pro… nonprofit boards, when someone comes onto the board, no one’s talking to them about what their expectation around fundraising is. Many times they’re saying, well, you’re expected to give, that’s one thing. But if we really want them to fundraise, they have to have really clear expectations and they have to be trained properly.

Hugh Ballou:

That’s the second one, education. I mean, people are going to resist what they don’t understand, right?

Jeff Schreifels:

That’s right. I’ve seen boards who have been really disgruntled with the process because they never had anyone come to talk to them really about what the expectation is around them fundraising or them bringing in people in their sphere of influence. But it can be turned around when someone comes in and says, here’s a guide, here’s what we do, here’s how we do it, here is why we fundraise, and here is the expectation of you as a board member. And we’re going to walk with you on this and hold your hand through this and guide you. And you’re going to be great. So you give them that vision. And when you’ve done that, boards react so well to that because they really want to know, what can I do? A lot of people on the boards are like, just tell me what to do. I want to do something.

Hugh Ballou:

And they have to know the purpose and the ultimate goal. So you are so right. We are not very clear. We want to blame people when they don’t do what we want, but we haven’t been clear.

Jeff Schreifels:

Oh, that’s the first question I ask you. When fundraisers come to me and say, our board doesn’t do anything. They’re not going. I said, OK, what have you done to help bring them up and train them and inspire your board to do this? Oh, you’re right, we didn’t do that. Well, you can’t expect your board to just all of a sudden be super fundraisers without that inspiration, without that training, without the expectations, goals, all the accountability that goes into that. But if you have that, I’ve seen boards raise tons of money and bring in new donors for you.

Hugh Ballou:

They have specific relationships with people that you don’t. And collectively, if you’ve got a really active board in the community, they know a lot of people. So if you’re coming by watching this live stream, we’re talking about philanthropy today. This is about fundraising. So Jeff, define philanthropy for us. We think it’s about the executives puffing the cigar and raising these big checks. That’s not it, is it?

Jeff Schreifels:

Well, technically the word philanthropy is about love of humanity. That’s what it is, right? But we seem to have this idea that philanthropy is just, it’s really about money, getting money, bringing in the money. And what we know is that philanthropy or fundraising is really about building real authentic relationships with people. And it’s about understanding the donor’s passions and interest and why they have those passions and interest. What drives that passion and interest? It’s about understanding that they want to help change the world and be in a sense, an extension of your mission to make that happen. And so that’s what it’s about, building those relationships. And when that is done well, the money follows, always. When that’s done well, the money always follows. When you chase money, you might get a gift or two, but you will most often lose the relationship. because you’re not being authentic. And you know, donors are savvy people, especially those that we deal with mid and major gifts. They’re smart people. They’ve done a lot in their life to actually have the ability to give major gifts. And that’s also a thing that you have to build that trust with a donor because many of those donors are leery of people asking them for money. You know, is that person real? Are they authentic? Can I trust that person? And you as a fundraiser, your job is to build that trust and be authentic. And when you can do that, that is when a donor will feel comfortable enough to be able to provide those transformational gifts.

Hugh Ballou:

So if I’m hearing you right, it’s not about the money. It’s really about the donor and their journey supporting the impact of your work, correct?

Jeff Schreifels:

Yes. And it goes back to this even further, Hugh. I say this. You know, nonprofits think that their mission is about the thing that they’re doing that changes the world. That’s it. The mission is we’re going to help children in Africa have food and medicine, OK? And so that’s what they think their mission is. And that is part of your mission. But what most nonprofits fail at is that their mission also is they have a responsibility to their donors to find joy in their giving. They have a responsibility to their staff to find a joy in their work. And they also have a responsibility to the community in which they serve it, that those people in the community are stakeholders of that organization as well. But most nonprofits only focus on that thing that they’re doing every day. So what happens is, and this is why we see fundraisers, especially major gift fundraisers are leaving every 13 to 15 months. The high turnover of development teams are extraordinary. It’s really sad. And this is because the nonprofit has lost their way about what their mission encompasses. They’re not looking as their staff as part of their mission. They’re not caring for them. They’re not training them. They’re not giving them the resources necessary to be really good at their job. And on the donor side, if you look at the back end of a donor, how long does it take to receive a thank you? How long does it take to report back on the impact of that donor’s gift? Do you have resources available for the program team to be able to report on that impact? All of those things, would be taken care of if we really thought of them, the staff and the fundraising team and donors, as part of their mission. And we don’t do that.

Hugh Ballou:

We don’t. And I think it’s a matter of planning and budgeting, partially. I mean, that’s not one answer for all of it. But we don’t budget for those things, the follow-up communications.

Jeff Schreifels:

That’s because we don’t believe they’re part of the mission. They’re a way to get our mission done, right? And so then what happens is that you get all this burnout, people leave, they’re unhappy. Donors, the attrition rate, the retention rate of donors is poor. Why? Because we’re not treating them well. They go off to somewhere else because we’re not reporting on an impact. All of those are decisions that organizations make of how they believe in their donors and their staff.

Hugh Ballou:

We are at a place in our life where we support a number of charities and churches where we live, and outside of it. And it’s disappointing how little communication we get. You know, there’s no conversation of, we’ve been good stewards of your money, here’s what’s happening. We only hear, oh, it’s time to give money again. We haven’t heard a thing. Sometimes we don’t even get an official thank you, it’s just a receipt.

Jeff Schreifels:

You know how many thousands of donors over the years I’ve heard that same story from? So many donors are disillusioned with nonprofits because they don’t do that well at all. I’ve got so many stories of how nonprofits fail at this because they don’t look at their donors, they don’t look at their staff as part of their mission. And we lose track. And it’s all about getting this thing done. And so what gain is it to change the world if you’re burning out your staff and not taking care of your donors well? We lose our way.

Hugh Ballou:

You talk about transactional, transformational. How do you help people make that shift?

Jeff Schreifels:

Yeah, you know, first of all, not all transactional gifts are bad. So for example, many times nonprofits send out direct mail pieces or emails in an effort to acquire new donors. And they might get a $25 gift or a $50 gift. I would say that kind of giving is transactional. Yes, the donor is feeling something, right? But they don’t know everything about the organization. They feel in that moment, hey, I wanna make a gift. And that’s a transactional gift. It’s not something that’s going to change that donor’s life necessarily, or the organization’s, right? That $25 gift is not necessarily going to like take them to a different level, but that’s okay. Your idea is to bring as many donors, cast the net wide, and then at that time, that’s your opportunity to start to build the relationship with the donor. And over time as donors give more, that relationship can change. And what most nonprofits don’t do well is they don’t have a mid-level program. So a donor starts giving, let’s say $500 a year, $1,000, they’re usually being treated like a $10 donor. And so that’s frustrating for a donor. They don’t hear from the organization much except for asking for money. A mid-level program, where you have a rep, just like a major gift rep, but they have more donors in their portfolio, changes that relationship with the donor for the first time. It’s like, hey, we noticed how generous you’ve been and we wanna get to know you. And you start to reach out to that donor personally. That changes the relationship. And then let’s say that donor starts giving bigger gifts and you move them into the major gift area where now somebody is working with them one-to-one. You know, where a major gift officer only has a portfolio of 150 donors at max. And they’re talking to donors and they’re visiting them. And that donor’s getting reports on how they’re giving is making an impact. That major gift officer knows who that donor is, why they give. And you as the donor love it because you want to feel known. And if you’re a really good major gift officer, you’re making your donors feel known. And so that’s how, you know, that’s where the transformation really comes. The gifts where, you know, for the donor, and again, the donor could be transformational. A $10,000 gift for a donor could be transformational for them. Depends on how much, you know, it could be a million dollars. It could be $80 million. That could be transformational. But those only happen when you start building that relationship with the donor one-to-one.

Hugh Ballou:

And you pay attention, um, having led boards and inside organizations and seeing the joy that donors have when their gift is manifest, like in a symphony.

Jeff Schreifels:

Amazing.

Hugh Ballou:

They’re happy to be a donor. Yes. So psychologists talk about a money shadow. So we get all hung up with our, our hangups. We get stuck on our hangups about money and we forget there’s a joy in giving. That’s a huge piece.

Jeff Schreifels:

Think about it. Somebody has worked really hard to earn that money. And they have a whole story on their whole career. And over that time, they develop interests and passions about something. And part of what they want to do is give away some of that hard-earned money to help make the world a better place that aligns with those interests and passions. It’s a beautiful thing.

 

Hugh Ballou:

I’ve been on the other side of that. I get it now. I didn’t get it before. So I’ve been one of those people that been hung up. So you talked about major giving in mid-level and then there’s just your basic donors. All three of those are important, aren’t they?

Jeff Schreifels:

Absolutely. Yes. We need to treat all of our donors well, but we also have to be realistic with how much we’re spending to cultivate those donors too, right? So you wouldn’t spend the same amount of money on cultivating a $25 donor as you would a $1,000 donor, or a $1,000 donor as much as you would a $100,000 donor. So, cause we have to be good stewards of the organization’s expenses as well. But that doesn’t mean that every donor is not important, they are. but we need to cultivate them well in the best cost-effective way and manner as possible.

Hugh Ballou:

So I do know that the majority of all nonprofits generate the majority of their revenue from private donors. Is that correct?

Jeff Schreifels:

Most do. Some large organizations, like for example, like American Cancer Society, most of their revenue comes from the events that they do, direct response that they do, huge because they have donor bases of over a million donors, right? So they do have a major gift program when we help them build that for them. But when they first started, it was pretty small compared to the overall revenue that the organization makes. But that’s a handful of organizations, right? But the majority, yes, the majority of nonprofits bring in most of their revenue or should be from the top 15, 5% of their donors.

Hugh Ballou:

So this is a critical area to understand. That’s where I was headed with that. So I think we want to talk about your website. I’m going to show your website and then ask you to tell people what they’re going to find here. I just got to find it again. We have people that are watching this, are listening to this.

Jeff Schreifels:

Yeah.

Hugh Ballou:

Well, so I’ve got it now. Let me share it. So what’s the link, Jeff?

Jeff Schreifels:

It’s vertusgroup.com as you got up there. And one area I’d focus on Hugh is our resource tab up there at the top. One of the things that we believe at Veritas is that everything that we know and know how to do, we want to give it away. And so over the years, this has been our philosophy, that we wrote a blog. We’ve had a blog now since 2011. We’ve had, I think there’s almost 2,000 blog posts, Hugh, over that time. Podcasts, we have webinars, free webinars. We have over 25 white papers. We’ve written a couple of books. We have a free donor assessment that we, there’s all kinds of, if you click on the resources tab, there’s all kinds of free resources for you. So that no matter how small or big you are, there’s something that you can have that can help you in your work. Because we’re all about coming alongside the frontline fundraiser, mid-major gift officers, and helping them be successful.

Hugh Ballou:

And so anything that’s available. It’s spelled V-E-R-I-T-U-S. And in my brain, it couldn’t say it. Veritas to you.

Jeff Schreifels:

Veritas. Yes.

Hugh Ballou:

Yes. That’s important. And, um, you’re helping us know how to educate ourselves and our stakeholders.

Jeff Schreifels:

Yes, exactly.

Hugh Ballou:

So for people listening today, what’s the first two or three actions they can take to create a donor centered culture?

Jeff Schreifels:

Well, I would say the first thing is really to get in the leader’s heart and head that they want to create an organization that holds their mission, not just a thing they’re doing every day that’s changing the world, but also that they embrace the idea that their staff and their donors and the community they’re serving are all part of their mission. That’s number one. So get your head and heart right about this. And then understand from a fundraising perspective that donors are key stakeholders and that everything that you’re doing is about bringing them in as partners to help you fulfill the thing you’re doing every day that’s making the world a better place. And so that means you’re bringing the whole team together to understand from finance, from the program people, the role that donors play in that organization and why it’s so important to care about our donors. And then the final thing I would say is making sure as a leader that you allow the time and space to make that happen for mid and major gifts. It takes two to three years if you’re really starting from scratch to really build that program. And many times nonprofit leaders are stressed out because they feel like if they’re going to do something new, they’ve got to see a return right away on it. That’s not going to happen overnight. There’ll be some wins that you have, you know, you’ll start talking to donors and they’ll send you a check and wow, that’s great. But sustained, it’s going to take time to build relationships with donors, develop their trust, and you need to allow space and time for that to happen.

Hugh Ballou:

Jeff, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your insights today. You’ve given me and all of our audience powerful reminder that fundraising is, it’s just not about chasing dollars. It’s about inspiring generosity. I’m getting from it and building relationships and building trust and building excitement with people who are supporters. To our audience, We teach leadership is influence. This is a powerful example of how leaders influence others to respond. But it’s about empowering ourselves. You want to know more about Veritas? It’s V E R I T U S group dot com. And then you can find these episodes at the nonprofit exchange dot org, the nonprofit exchange dot org. This is Hubert for Center Vision. This is where leaders transform vision. into reality. Jeff, it’s been great having you as the guest today. Thank you.

Jeff Schreifels:

Thank you so much, Hugh. It was really fun.