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

“There are times where someone starts out through direct mail, giving small amounts, but then over time they become a very significant major donor and then progress so that at the time they pass away they maybe give through the legacy program,” Klucsarits says. “At every stage where someone makes those significant gifts, we always talk about how they first joined Heritage. It re-emphasizes to everyone the importance of the direct mail program and how that all ties into our major gifts.”