Called one of my clients’ donors just to say hello. He asked how are things and what are we working on. I gave him an update of the school and told him we’re thinking about starting to raise funds for scholarships for graduating seniors—just thinking out loud—because the funding gaps are often quite large. He asked me what’s the going rate these days for endowments and trusts. I said about 5% annually. But, anyway, we think it’s something we want to start doing in 2022/2023. He then said, “If we gave you a $1M for that initiative to go into your endowment, would that $50K annual spinoff help?” I said, “What!?! Hell yeah it would help!?!” I said, “…but, that’s not why I was calling you.” He said, “I know…that’s why we’re giving it to you—you always call just to see how we’re doing. Have your lawyers call me next week and let’s get this done…we’re not getting any younger.”
That happened 5 minutes ago…
Lessons:
  • Relationships are key!
  • Don’t always be asking for donations.
  • Always be thanking donors