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

Heritage also took a look at lapsed donors. When asked why they stopped giving, 30 percent reported an economic challenge that precluded them from contributing, and 30 percent either were incapacitated, had moved to a nursing home or had died. (The foundation’s average donor age is 72.) Many among the remaining 40 percent simply didn’t realize they no longer were active members of the foundation.