Advancement Resources’ Chief Operating Officer, Ben Golding, was recently quoted in The Major Gifts Report, a monthly newsletter that provides readers with procedures, techniques, and ideas for securing major gifts. The article shares the importance of engaging physicians in philanthropy. Golding shares some specific ideas for establishing professional relationships with physicians.

He says:

 The number-one indicator of success is the level of confidence the physician has in the professionalism of the development officer.

They see a donor referral in the context of a physician referral.

When they ask you how you got into development, you don’t say, ‘I just fell into it.’ You have to give them an indication of how it’s a professional choice you made.

If you treat physicians like you’d treat one of your major donors, everybody’s going to feel a lot better.

You can read the entire article, “How to Engage Physicians in Philanthropy,” in the 2015 Major Gifts Report.