It’s Worth It. Really.

Beyond the fact that multichannel integration is, was and always will be The Next Big Thing in fundraising, the talk at last month's Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference was all about donor engagement — the making of personal, finely cultivated relationships that are as satisfying for donors as they are for the organizations they support. Gone are the days when nonprofits could just shine the spotlight on themselves and hold out their hands. That lazy, ineffectual approach of talking at donors is so over that we need a new word for how over it is. The word "donor" itself even seems one-dimensional these days because it simply doesn't speak to the depth of the relationships supporters are looking to build with their organizations of choice.