Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach

The Ask Is Over. Now What? How Major Gift Leaders Respond and Strengthen Donor Relationships

The Ask Is Over. Now What? How Major Gift Leaders Respond and Strengthen Donor Relationships You've built the relationship. You've made the ask. And now the donor has re

S3 E5 Making the Ask Without Making It Awkward: How to Invite a Donor to Make a Major Gift

You know your donor. You've built trust. You've explored what matters to them. But when it's finally time to invite them to make a significant gift, the conversation sudd

Stay in Touch Without Always Asking: How to Create Meaningful Donor Touchpoints

You know you should stay connected with your major donors. But what do you say when you’re not asking them for money? Too often, nonprofits confuse communicating with do

Stop Waiting Until You Need the Money: Why Major Gift Relationships Must Start Before the Ask

Your organization needs to raise money. So the board starts asking: Who can we ask? But if that's when you begin building relationships with prospective major donors, yo

S3 E2 Stop Talking. Start Listening: The Major Gift Leader's Guide to Donor Discovery

Major donor meetings can create a lot of pressure for nonprofit leaders. You prepare your talking points, review your programs, memorize the statistics, and try to figure

S3 E1 Your Donors Don't Want Your Fundraising Pitch

Welcome to Season 3 of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach! Your major donor doesn't want your fundraising pitch. They don't want to sit through a presentation about your

Major Gift Leadership Starts with Your Board: How Great Executive Directors Build Boards That Inspire Generosity

Welcome to the Season 2 finale of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach! Over the past season, we've talked about relationship fundraising, transformational generosity, and

You're More Than An Executive Director - Become the Major Gift Leader Your Mission Needs

Most Executive Directors didn't choose their role because they wanted to become fundraisers. They accepted the responsibility because they believed in a mission worth fig

The Major Gift Trajectory : The Journey from Transactional Giving to Transformational Gifts

What if I told you that your next major donor may already be supporting your organization? Too many nonprofit leaders think major gifts begin with wealthy prospects they'

Why Your Major Donors Have Gone Quiet (And What to Do About It)

Have you ever looked through your donor database and wondered what happened to some of your best supporters? They gave generously, attended your events, and seemed deeply

The Gift Isn't The Finish Line: What To Do After Getting A Major Gift

Most nonprofit leaders spend months—sometimes years—working to secure a major gift. But what happens after the donor says "yes"? Too often, organizations celebrate, send

Why Leaders Minimize Their Mission and the Impact on Major Gifts

Are you unintentionally making your mission sound smaller than it really is? Many nonprofit leaders are passionate about their work, but when it comes to talking about th

Starting a Nonprofit? Avoid These Common Fundraising Mistakes

Starting a nonprofit is an exciting journey, but many founders quickly discover that passion alone isn't enough to sustain an organization. In this episode of Huddle Up w

The Costly Major Gifts Mistake: Why Major Gifts Aren't Just for Capital Campaigns

What if one of the biggest limitations on your organization's fundraising success is the belief that major gifts are only for campaigns? Too many nonprofits wait until th

The Board + Executive Director: A Power Partnership That Transforms Fundraising

What happens when the executive director and the board stop operating separately—and start partnering together around fundraising? In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark

Small Asks Kill Big Gifts: Why Fear is Costing Your Mission Millions

One of the biggest reasons nonprofit leaders struggle to secure transformational gifts has nothing to do with donor wealth — it has everything to do with the confidence b

Your Fundraising Event Can Level Up Your Major Gifts

In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, I break down how to run a fundraising event that does more than sell tickets—it creates real major gift opportuniti

Stop Acting Poor: How to Break the Nonprofit Scarcity Trap

Grants Are Killing Your Mission: Why Winning is Actually Losing

Are you tired of feeling like your nonprofit’s survival is tied to a "Hunger Games" style lottery? In this episode of Huddle Up with Mark The Fund Coach, I dive deep into

Stop Hiding Behind Email - Call Them Instead!

Are you communicating with your donors—or actually connecting with them? In a world where email, text, and social media make it easier than ever to reach people, many non