A kinder, back-to-basics approach to donor relations amounted to a 30 percent increase in contributions for D.C.’s Heritage Foundation.

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

The results were “pretty dramatic,” according to Walter.

“In 2001, the test group gave nearly 8 percent more than the control group,” he explains. “That being said, all these additional non-solicitation contacts were not cheap. So we essentially ended the first year at break-even among active members; there was no bottom-line net profit.”