Author: Alicia Miranda

The Collaborative Approach to Major Gift Work  ·  Resource 5 of 11 Reading Your Donor Through the Five Paths Lens Meet James › Read his signals › Choose your approach › Path portraits › Practice more › Apply it Know Yourself — Resource 5 Reading Your Donor Through the Five Paths Lens The Five Paths to Leadership® isn’t just a tool for understanding yourself. It’s also a lens for reading how donors naturally show up — and adapting your approach accordingly. Meet James. Read his profile, then work through two decision points that will test your ability to read his dominant path and choose the right engagement strategy. Donor Profile James Whitfield Background Age 61. Chemical engineering alum. Retired from a Fortune 500 company where he served as VP of Operations for 14 years. Now consults independently on operational efficiency. Giving history Three gifts in five years — each one larger than the last. Most recent: $50,000 to the engineering school’s equipment fund. Always asks for detailed impact reports before renewing. Meeting behavior Arrives with questions prepared. Asks about metrics, timelines, and what went wrong as often as what went right. Can seem skeptical, but follows through when satisfied. Communication […]

The Collaborative Approach to Major Gift Work  ·  Resource 4 of 11 Taking and Interpreting Your Five Paths Assessment Take the assessment › Enter your scores › Your interpretation › Reflect Know Yourself — Resource 4 Taking and Interpreting Your Five Paths Assessment The Five Paths to Leadership® measures preference, not ability. It shows how you naturally show up as a leader — and how that changes when pressure goes up. Your scores aren’t good or bad. They’re a map. This resource has two parts: taking the assessment, then interpreting your scores specifically in the context of MGO work. Step 1 — Take the assessment The Five Paths to Leadership® assessment is hosted on the Academic Impressions platform. Open it in a new tab, complete it, and note your five normal scores and five stress scores before returning here. You’ll need 10–15 minutes. Have a pen or somewhere to note your scores. Open the assessment → Already have your scores? Skip ahead. I have my scores → Step 2 — Enter your scores Your Five Paths scores Enter your scores below. The normal score is how you show up day-to-day. The stress score is how you show up under pressure. […]

Academic Impressions Member Resource Major Gift Officer Development The Collaborative Approachto Major Gift Work A field guide series for gift officers and their teams — built around the Collaborative Donor Relationships Framework and The Five Paths to Leadership®. Resources12 total PhasesReframe · Know Yourself · Practice · Synthesis FormatSelf-paced, interactive Est. time4–6 hours total Start here Begin with Resource 1 — a short video and sorting activity that frames the case for a relational approach to donor work. Begin Resource 1 → 1 Phase 1 Reframe Why the traditional fundraising cycle is leaving MGOs and donors behind — and what a different approach looks like. Resource 1Start here The Case for a Different Approach Video · Reflection · Sorting activity Names the structural problem with transactional fundraising and introduces the premise that this work should be joyful. → Resource 2 Introducing the Collaborative Donor Relationships Framework Interactive explainer · Scenario · Matching activity The five-phase framework through a scenario. Serves as a reference you return to throughout the series. → 2 Phase 2 Know Yourself Understanding your own leadership style as the foundation for authentic donor work. You can’t read a donor without reading yourself first. Resource 3 Why Self-Awareness […]

The Collaborative Approach to Major Gift Work  ·  Resource 3 of 11 Why Self-Awareness Is a Major Gift Skill Read Watch & Reflect Know Yourself — Resource 3 Why Self-Awareness Is a Major Gift Skill There’s a version of major gift work that feels genuinely energizing — where conversations feel like they’re going somewhere real, where donors seem to open up, and where the relationship builds naturally over time. And there’s a version that quietly drains you: where you’re going through the motions, saying the right things, but nothing quite clicks. The difference often isn’t the donor, the institution, or the initiative. It’s what you bring into the room. You can’t read a donor without reading yourself first Every donor conversation is shaped by the MGO in it. How you listen. What you notice. When you lean in and when you pull back. Whether you’re genuinely curious or quietly waiting to make your point. These aren’t personality traits — they’re patterns. And they’re learnable. But only if you can see them first. That’s what The Five Paths to Leadership® is for. Not as a general leadership development tool, but as a mirror for your specific role: understanding how your natural […]

The Collaborative Approach to Major Gift Work  ·  Resource 2 of 11 Introducing the Framework Meet Margaret › The meeting › The framework › Explore phases › What happened › Apply it › Reference Before we introduce the framework Meet Margaret Chen The setting: A gift officer, Priya. A donor, Margaret Chen. A meeting that almost worked. Read Margaret’s profile before we walk you through what happened. Donor Profile Margaret Chen Background Age 58. Environmental science alum, 32 years out. Built a career in sustainable agriculture consulting, then sold her firm five years ago. Giving history Annual donor for 12 years. Gifts between $1,500–$2,500, always to environmental programs, always without much contact from the institution. Status Loyal alum. Never solicited for a major gift. Flagged as a major gift prospect based on capacity research. MGO Priya has just inherited this portfolio. Margaret is one of her highest-priority prospects. The meeting → Part One — A moment that didn’t quite work The Meeting Priya does her homework. She reviews Margaret’s giving history, reads her LinkedIn profile, and identifies two institutional initiatives she thinks Margaret will care about: a new sustainability research center and a student fellowship in environmental studies. The meeting […]

The Collaborative Approach to Major Gift Work  ·  Resource 1 of 11 The Case for a Different Approach Video › Reflect › Sort it out › Results Resource 1 — Reframe The Case for a Different Approach The traditional fundraising cycle is useful infrastructure, but it tracks institutional activity, not donor experience. This short video makes the case for a different orientation to your work. 2 min 30 sec Continue Reflect A Moment From Your Own Experience Think about a donor conversation, recent or not, where something felt off. Maybe the conversation went fine on the surface, but did not go where you hoped. Maybe you left feeling like you had missed something. What do you think was happening? Capture your answer in your own notes. Optional, this is not submitted or scored. It is for you. Skip Continue Sort It Out Transactional or Relational? Below are eight behaviors an MGO might bring to a donor relationship. Drag each card into the column that best describes it, or tap a card to select it, then tap a column to place it. You must place all eight before checking. Cards to sort Opens a donor meeting by asking about their experience […]