Spring Has Sprung!

By Monday evening, I knew I was in for a fight. The chills, the headache, the tightening chest - this was going to be a rough one. By Tuesday morning, I was down for the count. Forget heading to Dallas - I could barely stumble down the hall to the bathroom.

What a disappointment🤕. My cancelled trip to Dallas would have included a full slate of meaningful work:

• A new pro bono client (a church launching a pop-up clinic for low-income families!)
• A potential new client I am eager to partner with
• A vision briefing I helped catalyze for a client who was planning on me to lead the briefing
• A meeting with two giving-side friends whom I looked forward to encouraging and serving

Instead? I was stuck texting furiously because talking would trigger another round of coughing. My contacts responded with grace - No worries, we got this! - but the frustration was real for me.Interestingly enough, that Dallas opportunity may have actually gotten stronger in spite of my absence. There’s something about absence that creates curiosity. Without me in the mix, others had to step up. They took more ownership, asked better questions, and deepened their engagement. Turns out, when we step back, sometimes our partners step forward.The flu is one among many pain points a major gift fundraiser might face in the spring.

The Spring Struggles

‍Beyond illness, this season presents unique obstacles that can throw even the best-laid fundraising plans into chaos.  Let’s consider the following:

1. Spring Event Fatigue
Galas, donor appreciation events, board meetings - it’s a non-stop sprint. Juggling execution, follow-ups, and relationship-building? Exhausting.

2. Tax Season Distractions
Many givers are focused on filing taxes and assessing their financial standing post-April. Giving decisions stall. Conversations go quiet.

3. Competing Priorities for Givers
Spring is packed: spring break getaways, graduations, travel, business transitions. Good luck getting on a busy giver’s calendar.

4. Fiscal Year-End Crunch
For orgs with a June 30 fiscal close, this season is a pressure cooker. The tension between long-term cultivation and short-term revenue goals is real.

5. Database & Documentation Chaos
Spring moves fast. Logging meetings, updating DRMs, and tracking donor touchpoints? Often an afterthought. Gaps form. Institutional memory suffers.So, What’s the Play?

Well, as I sit here now, my number one piece of advice is plan to get sick.🤒

Seriously, spring will always be a gauntlet, so here are a few strategic pivots to deploy:

• Stay Focused on the Givers - If you’re busy, so are they. What’s going on in their lives? What milestones are they experiencing?
• Be Different - Your givers are already getting asked constantly. Maybe try a non-ask, highly interactive briefing event packed with value and impact (my strategy intended for the Dallas briefing, which ended up going well, by all reports).
• Plan for Delays - Expect slower response times and build in flexibility. And yes, plan to get sick.

• Tighten Your Tracking - Even 30 minutes a week spent logging key conversations can prevent months of follow-up headaches later.
• Don’t Talk About Your Fiscal Year-End - I’m just going to cut to the chase here: nobody (except maybe your board) cares about it. To givers, it feels like a manufactured emergency.

Spring is beautiful and brutal, full of opportunities and disappointments. Lean in where it counts, and don’t let the seasonal chaos derail the bigger picture.

We all have our battle-tested tricks. What’s yours? Hit reply and I’d love to hear it.

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If you haven't taken advantage of some of the resources I've created to help major gift fundraisers, take a look now!  Initial calls with me are free and "no strings attached".  Sometimes folks feel like they need to wait and not 'bother' me until they have a pressing issue.  No need for that...just make the call. 🕺

‍Here's where you can access a lot of content for free:

‍* Follow me on LinkedIn - You'll get short pro-tips and reflections on major gift fundraising every day between 5-7am pacific.

* Breakthru Newsletter - As you've seen here, these are longer weekly posts (audio and written) sent directly to your email.

* Breakthru Blog - the newsletter from the previous week gets posted here each week for everyone (so email subscribers get it a week early).

* Breakthru Podcast - Interviews with high net worth givers about how we as fundraisers can get better at inviting them to the party.  And audio readings of Breakthru Blog posts.

‍Before getting to the PAID stuff: My opinion is that no small ministry with a tight budget should be spending more than $3-5k (total) for major gift coaching/consulting.  Most of you will be good-to-go spending far less than that.  This was a major issue for me when I was a frontline fundraiser - major gift consultants were an expensive 'black-box-of-confusion' for me.  That stops now.

‍Here's the PAID stuff:

‍* Online Catalyst Course - This is a full brain dump of my 28+ years of experience - good, bad, ugly.  It's built around the fundamentals, the sacredness, and the fun, of major gift fundraising.  It's infused with Henri Nouwen reflections.  Many people can take this course and they will be 'cooking-with-gas' and not need any additional coaching from me on the core systems.  I'm grateful that this course has gotten *great* reviews.

* Live coaching with me - I refer to this as "brain rental".  The ROI on live coaching, as you might imagine, is extraordinary.

Finally, be sure to connect with my colleague Ivana Salloum.  She's super awesome and can help with scheduling and access to resources, etc.

I look forward to hearing about your good work!

Blessings,