Lions, Mice & Antelope
Tom Suddes | May 15, 2009
Originally posted July 24, 2003 – Re-posted.
We all know (intuitively or from real experience) that MAJOR GIFTS is the best way to raise the most money… at the least cost!!!
To help you understand Major Gifts… and to help understand why it’s so important to focus on your best and most QUALIFIED PROSPECTS… check out the following story/metaphor.
LIONS, MICE & ANTELOPE
A lion can actually capture, kill and eat a field mouse.
However, it turns out that the energy to do that is greater than the caloric content of the mouse. So, if a lion spent his whole day hunting and eating field mice… it would slowly starve itself to death!
A lion cannot live on mice. Lions need antelopes. Antelopes are big. While they take more speed and strength to capture and kill, once killed, they provide a huge feast for a lion and its pride.
A lion can live a long and happy life on a diet of antelope.
The difference between mice and antelopes is really, really important relative to Major Gifts!
If you’re spending all of your time and energy going after ‘field mice’… your short-term rewards are a feeling of activity and maybe even accomplishment. However, in the long run, you’re going to die.
Do you spend your day chasing mice or hunting antelope???
5 Comments So Far
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Dionne - May 15th, 2009 9:11 am
And how easy it is to chase those cute little mice!
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Claire - May 15th, 2009 10:14 am
Remember, sometimes the mice turn into antelope, so it pays to pay attention to them!
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Mike - May 15th, 2009 5:51 pm
And when all the mice are on facebook the lion can have a feast
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Judy - May 18th, 2009 2:47 pm
I agree with Claire-there still are “Millionaires Next Door” who come dressed as mice. Gentle touches often result in significant gifts or bequests. In these economic times there are not enough antelopes for today so nurturing the mice has to be part of the diet plan.
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Carl - May 22nd, 2009 8:26 am
Have we missed Tom’s point–that the antelope are still out there but because of our living from a perspective of scarcity, we fail to look for the antelope (people who can still provide significant gifts even in these economic times) but instead start focusing more on the “mice?” Even the “Millionaires Next Door” are antelope–we just think they are mice. As Tom has pointed out many times, often “we have not because we ask not.”
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