Cover Story: Filling the Void

“For someone that’s just kind of feeling things out, it’s an educational process to a donation,” Boroff says. “That again goes back to the integration. We don’t have our Web site being handled by someone in the communications department that’s not working on a daily basis with our fundraising team.

“We’re actually sitting around a table and talking about things like tribute gifts and what information is on the Web site that will speak to individuals, corporations and foundations, and how we are getting them to act on a gift at that precise moment,” he explains. “And even after someone gives a gift, we talk about how we can now turn them into an annual donor. For example, while many new donors responded to the Robin Hood grant, we ask how we can cultivate them to become annual … supporters going forward.