A Different Question for Moves Management Meetings
Moves management meetings are common in fundraising offices. Most organizations hold them weekly, every other week, or once a month. The format varies. The goal usually does not.
Gift officers gather to talk about activity:
Who did you meet with?
How many visits did you have?
What gifts are likely to close?
What is the next step with a donor?
These meetings have value. They create accountability. When people know they will report on their work, activity tends to increase. They also allow leaders to monitor progress toward goals and identify where someone might need support. Teams hear patterns in the community. They share tactics that worked. They help each other think through difficult donor situations.
All of that matters.
But recently in a conversation with a client, a different idea emerged about how these meetings could be more useful. Most moves management meetings focus on transactions. What gift are we asking for next. What proposal is coming. What is the dollar amount.
That conversation misses something more important: Do we actually understand what the donor wants to accomplish?
I suggested a small but meaningful change. In a moves management meeting, a gift officer should not be allowed to talk about asking for money until they can clearly explain the donor’s passion.
In other words, before discussing a solicitation strategy, the officer should be able to answer a simple question.
What does this donor most want their philanthropy to accomplish?
When gift officers know that question will be asked in front of their colleagues, behavior changes. They start asking different questions during donor visits.
What causes matter most to you?
Where have you seen philanthropy make a real difference?
What would you most like your giving to accomplish?
Those questions uncover motivations that rarely appear in traditional cultivation conversations.
In one example, a client shared a gift officer met with someone who already supported another organization. Rather than ending the conversation there, the officer leaned into curiosity. They asked what the donor hoped their philanthropy would achieve. The donor responded that no one had ever asked them that question before.
That conversation reopened the relationship.
This is where moves management meetings can become far more productive. Instead of simply reporting activity, gift officers return and explain what they have learned about the people they are working with. What motivates them. What they care about. What impact they hope to have.
The conversation shifts from transaction to alignment.
And when you understand passion, larger opportunities often follow. Donors who are clear about what they want to accomplish begin thinking beyond annual gifts. They consider multi-year commitments. They consider legacy giving. They consider how their assets might support the work they care about long after they are gone.
The structure of the meeting does not need to change dramatically. Metrics still matter. Portfolio management still matters. But the central conversation becomes different.
Instead of asking what the next gift will be, the team asks a better question: What matters most to the donor, and how can we help them accomplish it.
