One Visit Away

Val Hrbacek is the Director of Development of Birth Choice Dallas.  In this episode you will find great insights on how to succeed in major gifts even while bringing your toddler to work everyday! Listen to this episode and among many tips you will understand the importance of making thank you calls as they can lead to more than 1000% increases in giving as well as the importance of not assuming a benefactor's capacity.  

How do you go from hearing that someone will never give to your organization to them becoming one of your most important benefactors? Find out by listening to this episode of One Visit Away, where your host Kevin Fitzpatrick shares one of his favorite stories from the beginning of his career as a major gift officer.  This episode will inspire you to schedule more visits so that you can raise more money for your non-profit!

Joseph Hamaty with the Steier Group tells stories that will get you excited to schedule more visits and raise more money for your organization! The Steier Group has helped raise over $2 Billion for capital campaigns.  Joseph shares several stories that help illustrate why they have had such great success.  These stories are equally informative as they are entertaining!

In this episode we hear from Fr. Richard Hermes, S.J. and Nick Suszynski.  If you work in Major gifts, fundraising, or are thinking about starting a capital campaign, this episode will help you tremendously.  Before being named President of Jesuit Tampa, Fr. Hermes had almost no experience in fundraising. After he got to Jesuit Tampa, he and Nick led Jesuit through an incredibly successful capital campaign. The original goal was $35 Million, but due to the bold vision Fr. Hermes presented, the determination of Nick Suszynski in heroic follow-up efforts, the extreme generosity of their benefactors, and of course everyone involved doing everything For the Greater Glory of God, they surpassed their goal and raised $50 Million!Your organization is not stuck. Listen to this episode now and you’ll realize you’re just One Visit Away from a transformational gift for your organization!

In this episode, you will learn how to schedule more visits through the use of referrals, the importance of never giving up on a relationship, and how to respond to being cursed out of someone's office! You do not want to miss this episode with Evan Woolsoncroft.  Evan was born and raised in Kansas. He attended Kansas State University. Upon graduation he started missionary work with FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). FOCUS is a collegiate outreach non-profit that shares the Gospel, prays, trains and ministers to college students. As a missionary he raised his own salary and mission expenses to support his work. After serving one year at the University of North Texas and two years at Missouri State University, he stepped into professional development full-time with FOCUS as a philanthropy officer. In this role, Evan, worked with major gift benefactors, foundations, campaigns, annual giving, and planned giving. He recently finished his Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Catholic Philanthropy from the University of Mary. Evan now works for FOCUS as the Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement Senior Officer. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his wife and two young children.  

In this episode, I interview Mike Murray, Chief Development Officer of Catholic Charities Dallas.  Mike tells many stories from his time working in major gifts including a 5 minute conversation that led to close to $500,000 in giving.  If you are a development professional, you will be encouraged to schedule more visits after listening to this!