Today I attended a successful call for one of our clients that resulted in a major gift from a local bank. The experience was a good reminder about the value of patience and the importance of having the right people at the table.
First, in looking back, I realized that setting up this meeting took nearly a year. Last year when we began considering this potential donor, the person who arranged today’s get-together wasn’t even involved with our client. But later, after he had been cultivated and made a substantial gift, we recognized his relationship with the banker and realized he was the right person to set up the meeting.
Second, although we had decided in advance who would make the ask, the meeting didn’t unfold quite the way I expected. But in trusting that we had the right people there, I reminded myself to let them do what they said they would do.
And what they did resulted in a $200,000 gift to our client’s campaign.
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