You do not know how to raise major gifts. Your campaign goal seems insurmountable. You wonder how you will get there. "We need expertise!" is the refrain of some board members. How tempting it is to hire someone to raise the money and wash your hands of the entire process.

Consultants play an invaluable role in the fundraising process. Even famous universities, such as Harvard or Stanford, which employ hundreds of professional fundraisers, will also retain a consultant in a capital campaign. They value an independent and objective point of view. A consultant can design a campaign, bring many years of experience to the process and initiate new forms of fundraising. They give shape to a campaign and properly assert priorities. They manage the fundraising process – especially the highly specialized art of major gift fundraising. They both challenge and affirm present thinking. Yet these institutions do not expect the consultant to raise this money. They understand that their boards and their advocates should raise the money.

Why is it disadvantages to hire someone to raise the money? There are many reasons. First of all, there are two goals to every solicitation – receive the largest gift possible and enhance the relationship with the contributor. When an outside consultant is hired to meet with major donor prospects to raise the money, both goals are lost. The person to ask for the highest gift possible is the socioeconomic peer solicitor or the priest or bishop, not a paid solicitor. The CEO (priest or bishop) or the lay leader (parish council president, diocesan council chair or campaign committee chair) should deepen the relationship with the major donor on behalf of the institution or fundraising project. This cannot happen with a hired solicitor.

When the campaign is over and done, donors do not feel any closer linkage to the institution. It is the paid solicitor who has developed the relationship. Furthermore, the prospective major donor may recognize the role that the hired solicitor plays and therefore devalue their gift, preferring to give more to those directly invested and involved in the project. Some donors feel that when a paid professional solicits them, some of their contribution may go to his or her commission. This is not a desirable scenario. Donors need to feel that their entire gift goes to the project.

There is another very important issue to consider. Every professional fundraising consultant knows that the best person to make the solicitation is the person most likely to receive a "yes". It is so much easier to turn down some unknown entity, some "hired gun" than it is to turn down a dear friend, a colleague or the senior church advocate – the bishop or the priest – the one with whom they must continue to relate. The highest probability of success is when a peer asks a peer – when a friend asks a friend. A paid solicitor is neither of these.

When a board or a fundraising committee surrenders the fundraising process to a paid solicitor, then they are much less invested in the "success" of the project. "If we succeed or if we fail it is his or her fault, not ours."

The very best scenario is when friends and advocates of the parish or the diocese raise funds for the church organization. Not only does the major donor prospect encounter the genuine and authentic advocate of the organization or fundraising project but the voluntary fundraisers themselves often deepen their own commitments to the project. Very often the fundraiser increases his or her gift as a result of advocating for a heartfelt project!

One possible compromise is to ask the consultant to assist your fundraising teams by ascertaining if it is the proper time for the solicitation, testing the assumptions of the fundraising teams, verifying prospect information, and strategizing concerning the approach. The consultant can also accompany the teams on the visits to monitor the events and suggest next steps with the prospect following the cultivation or solicitation visit.

All of this leads to the inevitable next campaign. To whom will the prospective donor respond positively a second time: to a new paid solicitor or to a friend/advocate who has socially maintained a relationship? A major donor who gives once is the most likely candidate to give again. These are important, even critical relationships for charitable institutions – parishes, dioceses and organizations. Take heed!

Utilize the services of a professional consultant, yes. Ask him or her to raise money for you if you must. Invite him or her to accompany your solicitation teams on their calls. However, do not expect that the consult will entirely relieve your board or your advocates of the primary responsibility of raising the money. More importantly, the consultant will teach you how to raise major gifts, will formulate strategies with you, will keep the campaign "on point". He or she will assist you with the invaluable experience of many years of fundraising.