MAJOR MOVES
Essays by senior professionals working inside major gifts — executives, consultants, and institutional leaders who understand the realities of the field but cannot always speak openly under their own names. These are practical reflections on how major gift fundraising actually operates inside complex institutions. What works. What stalls. And why well-intentioned efforts so often fail to translate into results. Contributors are published anonymously or under descriptive bylines to protect candor. Each piece is reviewed and edited for clarity, restraint, and institutional relevance. This is not a forum for grievances. It is a space for professional honesty.
For those who drive change — not watch it. Join the top 1%.
Bequest revocations are a metric almost no advancement office tracks. As legacy intentions become easier to generate through low-friction, self-service tools, they also become easier to abandon. Institutions report growth while relationships thin. The numbers remain intact. The donor’s commitment does not.
Feasibility studies are a staple of major gift fundraising — but in many institutions, they’ve quietly become a substitute for donor engagement. This essay examines how short tenures, risk aversion, and misaligned incentives lead organizations to commission studies not to inform action, but to delay it. When preparation becomes the strategy, donor momentum fades, leadership avoids hard truths, and the money goes elsewhere.
Making Estate Planning Accessible, Simple, Personal, Secure and FREE!
Bequests are up, cash is down. Empower your donors to plan their will and invest their legacy in the cause they support the most.
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