Part 2 : What Makes a Gift Officer

This is part of a series, in three parts, regarding what others might better understand about gift officers. In particular, ways in which data/infrastructure/prospect management can better support the revenue goals of the organization through major gift officers.

Part of the success of a great major gift officer is having them put proper psychology into their daily professional life. The psychology is one built off of the analogy of the duck, mentioned in a previous blog. The water never gets to the duck, it just flows off the feathers. The psychology for gift officers is much the same. Our business, fundraising, is built more on the thought of failure than success.  More times than not we are going to be rejected in trying to get an appointment or bringing in a gift. Thus, a great gift officer’s perspective about their job should include the following:

• A realization that not everyone is a great prospect. It is ok to “bless and release” prospects.

• Calling and seeing people takes discipline

• Rejection is a way of life

• People will be rude

• People won’t call you back

The most important psychological strength a great gift officer has is their “resiliency.”  The best gift officers I have ever worked with have the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations.  Most great gift officers can get their head in the right space quickly, whether it’s getting ready to make phone calls or coming off of a situation where a gift didn’t come into fruition. Also, great gift officers don’t take things personally. There’s a realization that most of the time a “no “has very little to do with the actual person who is the gift officer... It’s more about what’s going on in that prospector/donor’s life. The last is great gift officers don’t ever give up. They find ways of working around, over, or through challenges to get to the best opportunities of raising money.  They have and exude respectful tenacity.