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

“She never gave me her name. But right after New Year’s, a five-figure gift appeared in our stock account. The first organization [she called] never responded to her, and the second organization didn’t provide her with the information she needed,” he explains.

And while all of this makes for good business, it can’t help but make for good relationships, as well. Von Kannon mentions a major donor whose funeral he had recently attended.