Recently, our class had the privilege of hosting Jason Burtt, a Senior Major Gifts Officer at Grove City College. His talk offered a fresh perspective on “non-sales selling” and focused on creating meaningful value for others. A central theme in his discussion was value creation, and how it relates to creating legacy opportunities for alumni. His mindset going into “sales” calls with alum reflects his belief in what he is selling, and the value that he knows it can create. He says “nos” are rarely permanent and he treats them as a “not yet”. This kind of mindset encourages patience and persistence, reminding us that successful engagement comes from understanding others’ needs. Getting in the door and starting meaningful conversations requires preparation and humility. He stressed the importance of finding common ground with the people you engage. His example of this was connecting with Mr. Winklevoss by bringing up the fraternity they were both apart of, which opened the door to more meaningful conversations. Being a part of meaningful conversations requires you to listen more than you speak. He also added that learning to serve the other party first is what landed him large donors. The majority of donors have already built personal success and now they want to build significance. When you add value to someone’s life through support or connection, they naturally want to give back. This principle extends beyond alumni relations and is a universal truth found in professional and personal relationships. He closed off his talk with a biblical perspective on stewardship emphasizing that we are not ultimate owners of what we have but stewards. Whether its money, talent or relationships, recognizing that everything we manage is entrusted to us changes how we approach interactions. In this sense, selling becomes an act of service rather than self interest.
By taylorjt23
Bondre24 
wheelerne24 3 thoughts on “Jason Burtt’s Guest Lecture”
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This is a great reflection of our class with Jason Burtt and the valuable information he provided to us. I thought it was really cool that he talked about “no’s” really meaning “not yet”. It’s really important to focus on making connections and building relationships with people rather than just trying to sell them something, or, in Jason’s case, encourage them to donate to Grove City College.
You have some great takeaways with the time we spent with Jason Burtt. Something I took away was how he said being consistent every day is what matters. If you are able to keep your head down and grind great things will come your way in the long run. He also touched on how the little things do matter. I remember him talking about sending a wooden plane to a client who had mentioned his plane in conversation. This little act of kindness convinced the client to start donating much more money to the school.
I really like how you mentioned that a part of selling is serving the other party. Jason made some great points about how the people that he is “selling” to already have success and now they are looking for more significance. Jason does a great job at understanding that fact and I like how you mentioned that in your post.