Page 90 - The Administrator - A Startling True Story of Politics and Deception_Neat

78 | N. PAUL ONUZURUIKE

invited to participate in the Retreat and later, installed on the Foundation’s Gift

Planning Committee.

The Gift Pyramid, regarded as a “bottom up” fundraising technique, is a
prototypical tool that fund development professionals use to gain better

understanding of how and when their benefactors are ready to be moved up to
higher giving levels, in that way increasing their value and financial revenue. In so
doing, the professional assesses the institution’s current position and uses the

information to set reasonable, data-driven fundraising and stewardship goals.

A combination of both a Gift Table and the Gift Pyramid enables fund
development professionals to effectively understand the broader mass of data they

must work with -- including the institution’s prospects’ shortlist and how these
professionals might want to measure and record, and in what manner they wish to
improve the quantity and quality of their data. As an illustration, the professional must

continuously update an inherited database of contacts; needs to know how many of

those contacts are accurate; how many of those on the list have an existing
relationship with the institution; where they are located; and whether any are
already donors and/or stakeholders.

Another tool is the Case for Support, which is a well-thought-out investment
document that persuades and informs prospective donors what an organization
stands for -- including its vision, mission, goals and objectives, as well as what it

hopes to accomplish with their philanthropic support. The Case for Support
identifies and enumerates the basis and all the reasons why a prospective donor
would want to contribute and support the organization’s cause. Often, a Case for

Support is developed in preparation for a fundraising campaign. Like the Case for
Support, another investment tool -- but streamlined -- is the Case Statement which

is particularly crafted for a specific project. As an illustration, let’s consider item