Martin Leifeld is a consummate professional and has been a leader in the philanthropic profession for many years. 

Martin learned the power of embracing discomfort, and through powerful human behavior techniques, was able to raise over $500 million for three organizations. 

He served as Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at the University of Missouri St. Louis for 10 years. While there, he led a dramatic increase in fundraising averaging $26.4 million per year. Martin was Associate Vice President for University Development at St. Louis University, where he led his team to raise $158 million in three years. Raising money became his number one passion and Martin has since been able to distill the art of fundraising into some core fundamental principles and clear formulas that anyone can learn.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • Martin Leifeld gives tips on how to successfully solicits donations from donors
  • How Martin transformed an upset donor into a major guest 
  • What being “timeless” with donors mean
  • What Martin’s 80/20 rule with donor meetings is all about
  • How fundraisers can manage relationships with donors for their organizations and not for themselves
  • Martin explains how he uses patience to attract larger giving from donors 
  • Getting CEOs to understand the value of patience in fundraising and how the process works
  • What is the Gratitude, Gifts, and Compliments (GGC) method and what can it do for your fundraising efforts? 

In this episode…

One of the toughest things in the fundraising space is to get an appointment with a donor. So how do you get busy donors to sit down and give you a small part of their day? And how do you maximize the time they give you?

Martin Leifeld has figured out how to make donors more inclined to giving through the course of his illustrious career as a fundraiser. He says that having timelessness with donors and doing the 80/20 once you have the donor’s attention are keys to getting them onboard with your fundraising efforts.

Tune in to this week’s episode of Philanthropy 212 and learn from another leader in the philanthropic industry. Find out how Martin solicits large donations from donors successfully, how he’s able to maintain the fine line between professional and personal relationships with donors, and how patience can help attract larger donations for your fundraiser. 

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Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by Philanthropy212,  a fundraising consulting company focusing on helping not-for-profit organizations to build sustainable practices and programs that raise more money. Philanthropy212’s founder, Penny Cowden, has 25 years experience in the industry & has helped raise more than $100 million for non-profits such as PeaceHealth, Sisters of Charity, Inova Health System, Banner Health System and Sun Health.