Growing the Next Wave of Major Gift Talent

The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast · Sep 1, 2026 · 17m

She gave me four minutes. It changed my career.

Almost thirty years ago, I had a donor meeting with a man who genuinely intimidated me. My development director stopped by my desk and asked what I planned to ask him.

I recited my agenda. She listened, then said, "That's fine. But what do you really want to know about him?"

I said I wanted to know why he kept giving to us when he clearly didn't need us.

She said, "Ask him that."

He talked for twenty minutes about his mother, a scholarship, and a debt he'd been paying back for forty years. He made our largest gift that year.

Four minutes at my…