This morning, I received an email from a fundraising consultant pitching their upcoming training seminar in “major gifts.”

I receive a lot of these but this one stood out.

The spiel was essentially one extended review of the incredible results that would surely follow from attendance.  All in the immediate or very near-term time frame.

There were just a few issues with the proposition, however.

First, there was no definition of “major gifts.” Stand alone, it’s a meaningless term.  Depending upon your lens, a “major gift’ can mean anything from $1K to $500M.  My readers know that when I hear such catch-all terms, my radar immediately goes up.

The thinking here is the term can mean whatever you want it to mean.

Second, there was no allowance for the various situations nonprofit organizations find themselves in vis a vis fundraising.

Ironically, that’s the issue for so many tech “solutions”, including the latest buzz word, “AI”. The rush to the sameness of the bottom.

Thirdly, it was plain this seminar was ALL about money.  Meaningful relationships?  Who needs those?

But who the hell cares. Take the course. Bingo.  Whamo. The money appears.

I would like to think that intelligent leaders wouldn’t be persuaded by such a ham-fisted appeal.  After all, they’ve made their life’s purpose the betterment of the lives of others.

But no.  Apparently, this particular seminar has been—and will probably continue to be—very well subscribed.  At a premium price.  I’m reminded of a quote attributed to H. L. Mencken which I won’t repeat here.

As Zig Ziglar once said, if you look and see yourself in a long line, run like hell.

There is no, repeat no, “just add water” formula for your fundraising challenges.  Period.

There’s no need to be discouraged, however.

As a nonprofit leader, you already hold the key to the lasting solution to your fundraising challenges.

A simple step.

It’s about people, not money.  Funny thing happens.  When you make the primary focus of your fundraising the people, the investors, who support you, you raise more money than ever.

Fancy that.