Episode Details

In this episode, Tom continues his conversation with Bernice Martin Lee (“Bea”), CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation and longtime major gift leader, and they get very practical about what it takes to move donors from warm conversation to real commitments.Bea talks honestly about a moment she wishes she could redo: walking into a high-value corporate relationship meeting and realizing her team had never been taught how to actually close a gift. From there, she shares how she began retraining her fundraisers, why they hired a “closer” as CDO, and how a clear expectation at the end of every meeting can change your numbers dramatically.She then walks through two powerful stories that every fundraiser should steal from:
A foundation cultivation event at the Red Cross that finally converted a long-unresponsive family foundation into a six-figure donor by putting them in the room with the right program leader
A long, thoughtful cultivation journey at Ohio State that transformed a $250K research gift into $3.4M through consistent impact reporting, attention to small personal details, and smart introductions to other institutional leadersIn this episode, you will learn:
Why “let’s set up the next meeting” is often a sign you avoided the real ask
How to prep your team to close gifts at conferences and corporate meetings instead of endlessly extending cultivation
Simple closing language that sets a clear expectation and invites a concrete commitment
How to tell when you truly do not have enough information for an ask versus when you are simply avoiding the discomfort
Why hiring or developing a true “closer” can unlock growth when you already have strong relationship builders
How an in-person (or virtual) cultivation event can finally engage a foundation that has ignored your emails for years
How to use one high-credibility program leader to open doors with skeptical or hesitant funders
A step-by-step example of moving a scientific couple from a $250K gift to a $3.4M commitment during COVID
How small, specific personal touches (like remembering a favorite bakery or a red convertible) deepen trust and signal that donors are people to you, not just prospectsIf you lead a team or carry a portfolio yourself, this episode will help you diagnose where conversations are stalling and give you practical ways to close more gifts without sacrificing authentic relationships.

For more information on epilepsy, visit https://www.epilepsy.com/

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