A Look Back — and Forward

We’ve been talking about this for the last 10 years with very little movement in nonprofits actually adopting this practice. But 10 years from now, we believe, it will be implemented because donors will continue to demand that nonprofits report back on the effectiveness of their gifts.

As technology expands and becomes cheaper, nonprofits will be able to use it to not only report back on giving, but to cultivate and steward donors. However, this will not replace building solid, one-to-one strategies that include deepening human relationships with donors and the representatives of the causes they support. In fact, we believe we will see a renewed emphasis on training major-gifts officers, and nonprofits will see the value and start implementing major-gifts programs as direct-response programs continue to increase in cost.