The Intentional Fundraiser Podcast

Rethinking Major Gifts Metrics in 2026


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Bad metrics ruin good fundraisers.

Slowly. Quietly. Cycle after cycle.

And almost nobody on the team is allowed to say it out loud.

In this week's episode of The Intentional Fundraiser, I'm sharing why the metrics most major gift programs lean on, raw visit counts, dollars to goal, dials made, often miss the actual work.

I'm walking through:

→ The hidden cost of using lagging indicators to coach behavior

→ Five leading indicators worth tracking instead

→ Why AI inside your CRM should help you ask better questions, not deliver verdicts

→ How to turn the next quarterly board report into a coaching opportunity for leadership

Here's the question I want to leave you with:

If your scoreboard disappeared tomorrow, what would your gift officers actually do differently?

If the answer is "not much," your metrics may not be doing the work you think they are.

Listen to this episode, then send it to one development director or board member who could use a different conversation about reporting this quarter.

More from Tammy Zonker

Author of Calling All Heroes

Founder of Fundraising Transformed

President of Modern Institute for Charitable Giving

Learn more about the Excellence in Major Gift Fundraising Seminar

Subscribe to Tammy Zonker's Scaling Major Gifts newsletter

Connect with Tammy Zonker on LinkedIn

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The Intentional Fundraiser PodcastBy Tammy Zonker

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