Help Your President Succeed

Response by Doug Page to “The President’s Six”

My responder this week is Doug Page, Senior Legacy Fellow at the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation in Tacoma, Washington. (See Doug’s full bio below).

He is writing in response to last week’s column “The President’s Six” (read it here).

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I have had the great privilege of working with and for several very effective presidents, and only a few who were less so. I always consider my role, which is one of the few truly public-facing roles, as a surrogate of the university leadership. I may not always agree with the decisions that were made, but I will defend them as if they were my own.

Fundraising is a partnership between the boots-on-the ground development officer and the president. Mutual respect is paramount, and a donor must see a coordinated front when approached for a gift. In most cases, I serve as the relationship manager and the president comes in with vision and passion. Purpose, amount, people and plan must be known in advance, and my role is to tee up the president for success.

But it doesn’t always go as planned. After a lunch with the president, his spouse and the donors, I initiated the opening of the request. I was thinking this is going to be a great gift until the donors say, “I understand this is your (the university’s) priority, but it isn’t ours!” I immediately think, “I messed up!” I failed to cover the president’s “six.” But this president, recognizing the square peg/round hole, came up with a solution that perfectly aligned with the impact these donors wanted to have. It worked, and I learned an important lesson that has stuck with me since.

If you have the opportunity to on-board a new president, you would be well-served to schedule some early and quick successes. Meet with your most ardent supporters and suggest, in advance, a gift opportunity where the president can come in and enjoy a successful fundraising experience. It need not be a transformational gift, but it should be enough to move the needle, if even a little.

Remember, you are in a very special place of privilege to be able to work with, travel with, and share fundraising strategies with the CEO. You cannot do too much to help your president succeed. And if you don’t have their “six,” the privilege of working alongside the CEO may be short and not so sweet.

Douglas Page is the Senior Legacy Fellow at the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation in Tacoma, Washington. Doug has spent his entire career in the gift planning space, and he recently retired from Pacific Lutheran University where he enjoyed an almost 26-year career as the Executive Director of Gift Planning. Doug is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) from the American College of Financial Services, and he has an Impact Philanthropy Advisor certificate from Daylight Advisers.

Thanks, Doug! Your track record working with executives is second-to-none!

The editor of “To Be a Fundraiser” is Kelly Wendell, Coordinator of Communication at South Dakota State University.