How Haiti Changed Fundraising

To make sure donors know where their money will go, CRS has implemented a long-term strategy to help Haiti rebuild.

Takeaways
Melia

• It’s critical to integrate with social media to tell donors where the money is going.
• Use photos and updates.
• Quick response is vital.
• There are changing donor expectations — you must meed their needs.
• Donors expect things to flow — acknowledgments, scalability, continued communications about how they are making a difference.
• Exposed new donors.
• Community giving was prevalent, not just individuals.

McCurry

• Don’t try to be what you’re not.
• Respond to donors, react and plan.
• Learn from every experience.
• We have to be multichannel, consistent, integrated and be true to ourselves.
• We must know what our donors need.

Meulensteen

• Manage expectations, but try to play whatever role donors need you to play.
• Wait out for need to really come. Don’t just jump in right away.
• There may be backlash — Why weren’t you there earlier? — but stay true to your organization and mission.

Whitehead

• The change was extraordinary — the communication expectation soared.
• Donors expected to get communications wherever they were.
• It was the tipping point for things like mobile and the demand of communications.

Seller

• Donors don’t just want communications; they want dialogue — we got a huge response when we could have a conversation.
• Help build relationships — mobile, social media, digital are really the only place to have intense, personal conversations with everyone all at once.
• You must have conversations.
• People are so informed that we are not necessarily in a position of trusted experts. Don’t think the dynamic is there the same way. Ask questions. You have to earn trust. That does change the relationship.