Talking Back

— Christopher Barry,
senior vice president,
Newport Creative Communications
Duxbury, Mass.

Do you treat your major donors like friends? How do you nurture those
relationships?
— FS Advisor, Nov. 22, 2005

Friends are typically thanked once for a gift, maybe with a phone call or note, and the acknowledgement isn’t tracked for future references. Strong fundraisers, on the other hand, find multiple ways to thank donors and know precisely how those acknowledgements were delivered. Likewise, you probably don’t have friends’ detailed financial information and credit card numbers at your fingertips. The best fundraisers know it’s unacceptable to have a Rolodex of personal donor information sitting on their desk. Donors deserve careful handling of their information. Gift acknowledgement and donor details are best kept in an established, secure donor-management system.