5 Nonprofit Donor Relations Trends for 2015

To get a handle on what’s in store for 2015, NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share their nonprofit trends for 2015. Here are five trends on donor relations.

DONOR RELATIONS
Christine Barnes, senior director of donors services, Humane Society of the United States
1. Donors will continue to push for accountability on how their donations are spent; a percentage answer will no longer suffice, and organizations need to be prepared. Donors are increasingly looking for information on how their donations make an impact.

2. We need to treat donors not as numbers, but as individuals. Organizing data well and applying data analytics, with its focus on tracking and analyzing giving behavior and other predictive variables, are hard work but are so critical. With this knowledge we will be able to provide donors with the giving experience they are seeking, and do so at the scale we require.

Richard Perry, founding partner, and Jeff Schreifels, senior partner, Veritus Group
3. More nonprofits valuing donors as partners vs. sources of cash and inviting them into the inner workings of the nonprofit. This trend is changing the focus of fundraising from securing money to helping donors solve problems. This will be exhibited through investment in mid- and major-donor programs that require more one-to-one cultivation and solicitation strategies. We will also see more nonprofits embrace what we call a “Culture of Philanthropy,” where the entire organization is centered around the donor, not just the development staff.

4. Increased donor care as nonprofit leaders and managers begin to realize that donors are the fuel the drives the nonprofit engine and are to be valued and cared for just as much as the organization cares for its programs and its mission. A new term, “Donors as Mission,” will begin to be adopted by nonprofits.

Jeff Shuck, CEO, Plenty
5. Leverage — and recognize — all of the resources your constituents have to offer. Your constituents bring more than money to the table. Though fundraising is critical to the viability of nonprofit organizations, it isn’t the only component of support that leads to success. Your constituents’ skills, time and networks are also valuable reservoirs of information, manpower and public relations. Recognizing and soliciting these resources will improve your bottom line — and it will also establish trust with your donors by demonstrating that your relationship extends beyond the wallet.