Who are the most overlooked donors in your database? Unless the answer is "all of them,” I can almost guarantee it’s your mid-level givers.

Most nonprofit CEOs I talk to are hanging on. There's never enough time, never enough staff, and never enough budget. It makes sense that mid-level donors are the most overlooked because they aren’t the big-spenders and they aren’t the easy-to-automate low-tier donors, either.

Nearly 20 years ago, I started my career in college athletics. My job was to be the on-court entertainer during timeouts and half-times at NCAA basketball games. I was constantly developing fun games for fans to play, and I took it so seriously. Hearing the crowd laughing and cheering meant everything to me!

Then one day, a new donor to the athletics department approached me mid-game, with her hands cupping her ears, and yelled in my direction, “Your voice is piercing my ears! It’s terrible!”

I was stunned. Did everyone feel this way? Or was this woman just old and crotchety with no appreciation for good entertainment?