Gail Perry Group

Name: Gail Perry Group
Address: 1340 Environ Way, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517, US
Telephone: +19198213050

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Gail Perry Group

Raise more money and discover the secrets to transformational fundraising! http://www.gailperrygroup.com/

04/29/2026

Most fundraisers prepare for a cultivation visit by thinking about what they want to say.

The shift that changes everything: prepare what you want to LEARN instead.

When you walk in with genuine curiosity, you listen more. You ask real questions. Donors feel heard in a way that rarely happens in organizational visits, and that feeling accelerates the relationship faster than months of careful cultivation.

The visit you keep postponing doesn't need a pitch. It needs three good questions and the discipline to actually listen.

Full post at the link. → https://gailperrygroup.com/major-donor-cultivation-discovery-visit/

04/27/2026

The second gift is harder to earn than the first.

Not necessarily because the donor's capacity changed, and not because they moved on. But because most organizations stop doing the relational work the moment the first gift arrives.

The thank you goes out. The acknowledgment gets filed. And then the donor hears from you primarily when you need something.

Remember this: those tasks are maintenance. They aren't truly stewardship.

And maintenance doesn't build the kind of relationship that produces a second gift meaningfully larger than the first.
There are five specific moves that can change this. Check out our blog to learn more.

gailperrygroup.com/major-donor-stewardship-second-gift/

04/24/2026

Every Friday morning, something lands in the inboxes of thousands of fundraisers.

It's our best thinking: one key idea, specific enough to actually use that week.

The newsletter is where we share the fuller picture: what's working inside real development programs, what we're seeing with our clients, and the honest observations from the field we don't always say out loud.

If you've been following us for a while, thank you. The newsletter is the next level in.

It goes out every Friday. Reliably. (We skip the occasional holiday. We're fundraisers... we know how your inbox looks in late December!)

Subscribe link in the comments 👇
🔗 gailperrygroup.com/subscribe

04/22/2026

No one ever told you it was okay to protect your time. Consider this post your permission to do so.

We see this all the time: A development director walks us through their portfolio. They know exactly what their top donors need, and they understand the work completely.

Then we look at their calendar. And cultivation is nowhere on it.

Reporting. Event logistics. Internal meetings. Grant writing support. It all keeps getting bumped.

We recently asked 500+ fundraisers: if you had 120 prospects, where would you focus? The largest group gave the right answer: move the bottom fifty to a separate track, and dig hard into the top twenty.

They instinctually know what to do. Most just aren't doing it.

When we ask why, it comes down to one thing: no one ever told them it was okay to protect their time.

So here's your permission. Protecting your cultivation time isn't a luxury. It's the most strategic move you can make for your major gift program. And we promise that there will be a return on that focused investment.

Saying "I need to protect time for donor work this week" isn't saying you're too busy. It's leadership, and your results will inspire others.

Swipe through for three practices that make it real. And we'd genuinely welcome a counterargument: what has your experience been?

04/15/2026

When did you last have a real cultivation conversation with one of your top donors? Not a thank you call. Not bumping into them at the gala. An actual, intentional visit where you were thinking about that person's connection to your mission and where the relationship needed to go next.

If the honest answer is "a few weeks ago... maybe more," you are not alone. We know it wasn't because you didn't care or forgot! It's because the week happened to you. The board request landed. The grant deadline moved. Someone needed something and you were the person who could fix it, and by Thursday you were out of runway.

The strategy is rarely the problem. The clarity is there. The calendar just won't cooperate.

There are three things we've actually seen make a difference. Not a new software system or total portfolio overhaul. Just three real disciplines. Save this for Monday morning, because that's honestly when it matters most.

What's eating your cultivation time right now? Let us know in the comments.

04/13/2026

What if every Friday, before weekend brain fully sets in, one sharp idea landed in your inbox?

Not a roundup, but instead real insights, field-tested and written for serious fundraisers.

One subscriber said it this way:

"Your newsletter is a source of encouragement and intelligence always."

That's what Fridays can feel like.

The subscribe link is in the comments. 👇
🔗 gailperrygroup.com/subscribe

04/07/2026

Nine years ago, after leading their first board presentation together, Gail Perry and Kathryn Gamble drove away and watched a bald eagle sweep across the field in front of them.

They stopped, looked at each other, and took it as a sign.

They were right to.

What began as a promising venture became a nationally recognized fundraising consulting firm.

Kathryn Gamble wrapped up her career with us at the end of 2025, and we wanted to take a moment to celebrate everything she built with us. 🦅

03/23/2026

One question worth sitting with this week: if you protected ten hours for pure cultivation visits - no admin, no meetings, no email - how would you spend that time? Take a look at our no-fluff article on how to build a program that actually performs 👇

Read the full article here: https://gailperrygroup.com/how-to-build-major-gifts-program/

03/19/2026

Excited to see our recent article "The Discovery Call Playbook: Open the Door to Major Gifts" shared in Monday's newsletter by Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

From AFP: Discovery in major gift is about genuine conversation, careful listening, and learning what truly matters to a donor. This article reframes discovery as the starting point of meaningful relationships that build trust, clarify engagement, and naturally open the door to deeper .

Take a look here!

03/10/2026

Today is the last day to register for the Major Gifts Intensive. And we at Gail Perry Group want to take a moment to speak directly to the fundraisers who are running on empty.

You are not behind because you're not trying hard enough. You're behind because the job keeps expanding, and the bandwidth doesn't. Because everyone needs something from you... the board, the ED, the events committee... and major donors require a kind of focused, unhurried attention that is almost impossible to manufacture at the end of a packed week.

That's why the Major Gifts Intensive is more than a training. It offers structure, community, and a weekly commitment that holds space for the work that keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

12 weeks, starting March 12. Come because you're ready. Come even if you're tired. We built this for both.

You deserve support. Your mission deserves it, too. gailperrygroup.com/mgi

03/03/2026

We’ve been in this work long enough to know something:

When funding feels uncertain, strong donor relationships matter even more.

The organizations that stay steady aren’t scrambling for last-minute fixes.

They’ve already built real relationships with donors who believe in the mission.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s built intentionally by fundraisers who know what to do next.

That’s why we offer the Major Gifts Intensive.

Twelve weeks of live instruction and coaching.
Practical strategy you apply to your real donors.
Support from consultants who are doing this work every day.

We begin March 12.

If you’re wondering whether this is the right step for you or your team, you can learn more — or reach out with questions — here:

👉 gailperrygroup.com/mgi

Address

1340 Environ Way
Chapel Hill, NC
27517

Telephone

+19198213050

Website

http://Gailperrygroup.com/

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