Mega Gifts, Revised and Updated 2nd Edition, Who Gives Them, Who Gets Them (Paperback)

by Jerold Panas (Author) "HE WAS WEARING a grey suit..." (more)
Key Phrases: mega gifts, mega givers, dollar givers, Clement Stone, Leo Roon, Alex Spanos (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
How do you top what is said to be the greatest selling fundraising book of all time?

How do you improve upon Mega Gifts, a book CASE Currents magazine called 'the most important fundraising book' written?

How do you, as Emeril Lagasse would say, 'kick it up a notch?"

Jerold Panas knows how.

You update the content, revise it, add more chapters, introduce a rash of new donors, and look afresh at what's happened over the past two decades. What you end up with is an even better book, if that's possible.

The Second Edition of Mega Gifts: Who Gives Them, Who Gets Them is no 'how-to' book. Panas would wince at that depiction. No, Mega Gifts it is far more substantive and significant than that.

What Panas is after is nothing less than exposing the soul of those who make large gifts. And in his own inimitable style, he goes right to the source, the big givers themselves, and speaks at length with dozens of them.

Then, to corroborate what he learns, Panas surveys nearly a thousand professionals in the field and incorporates their insights as well.

The result is a tour de force book from an unrivalled storyteller, with insights dancing off every page. In fact, there's so much inside information, you'll feel you're reading someone else's mail.

What you find in Mega Gifts is the real deal, from the primary source. This isn't conjecture.

And what you gain is an understanding of donors' innermost motivations, what drives them to the causes they support, how they reach their decision, what nurtures their loyalty, what they expect from organizations and their staff, how they wish to be recognized - even how they want you to approach them and present your case.

And then there are the Tenets for Success. From his depth interviews, from his survey to field professionals, and from his own close association with mega givers over the past several decades, Panas has distilled down 62 tenets that guide, shape, and determine the success of securing major gifts. Each and every one should be tacked on the wall.

Mega Gifts is the 800 pound gorilla in the field … and one hugely entertaining animal it is. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher
• ONLY BOOK OF ITS KIND

No other book on the market plumbs the psychology of giving as Mega Gifts does. Jerold Panas, hailed by Newsweek as "the Robert Schuller of Fundraising," explores the motives and pressures that drive men and women to make gifts of consequential size.

Scores of books dwell on the techniques for soliciting donors, but only Mega Gifts focuses on the human dimension of giving – questioning the donors themselves to uncover their underlying motivations.

• NOTABLE INTERVIEWEES

For his research, Panas interviewed dozens of notable philanthropists, each of whom has given million-dollar gifts (some many times over). A sampling of the individuals:

Alex Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers professional football team, who contributed a quarter of a million dollars on the spot, in response to a three-minute phone call from someone he had never met.

James Gamble, grandson of the founder of Procter and Gamble, who recalls his father talking to him about ‘DB’s’ – Deductible Benevolences. Leo Beranek, co-founder of one of the world’s largest acoustical consulting firms, tells of his longstanding interest in music, leading eventually to his major support of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Malin Burnham, San Diego’s Philanthropist of the Year and America’s Cup luminary, discusses how he prefers to be asked for philanthropic gifts.

The reader will also find fascinating stories about:

• Paul Galvin, founder of Motorola • Cyril Magnin, department store magnate • Dewitt Wallace and Lila Acheson, co-founders of Reader’s Digest • Clement Stone, the guru of the Positive Mental Attitude • Edwin Whitehead, founder of the Whitehead Institute at MIT • Gerald Jennings, creator of the wheelchair prototype • Walter Haas, Jr., who for years headed Levi Strauss & Company, founded by his great grand uncle --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Emerson & Church (May 31, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 1889102008
• ISBN-13: 978-1889102009
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,736,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mega Gifts - Mega Helpful, September 3, 2005

By	Roy Dillow (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mega Gifts: 2nd Edition, Revised & Updated (Paperback)

This book was almost like listening to a professional and highly experienced fund raiser give his unvarnished perspective on the motivations and realities of raising Mega Gifts. A nice peak into the human nature of those fortunate enough to be in a position to make large gifts to worthy and perhaps not so worthy causes. I found the book to be very helpful being new to the field of fund raising, though experienced in dealing with powerful and wealthy people in other professional settings. Not a "How To" book in the strictest sense, but more a what is and what motivates type of book. Worth the read.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched and Well Written, June 28, 2000

By	Wayne E. Groner (Springfield, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mega Gifts (Hardcover)

This book was first published in 1984 and quickly became a classic. Panas calls up the experiences of well-known philanthropists, volunteers, educators, religious leaders, fund-raising experts, and others to underscore a primary principle of successful fundraising: technique is no substitute for a committed heart. Having said that, be sure to check out his 65 Tenets for Success.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mega Insightful, October 22, 2008

By	Money Hunter (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mega Gifts: 2nd Edition, Revised & Updated (Paperback)

I do believe the reviewer above, LynHak, didn't understand the star system. She gives the book one star, but says her daughter-in-law, for whom she bought the book, says it's the BEST fundraising book she's ever read. I think she meant to give it five stars, which I believe it deserves.