Cover Story: The Art and Science of Fundraising

“At ADA, each department within the development office shares in the success of each other’s efforts, and we all benefit when a donor is happy as a result of our combined efforts,” she adds.

Bennett paraphrases New York Sen. Hilary Clinton, saying that it “takes a village” to cultivate a donor.

“Our [giving] pyramid is very fluid; people come in and out of it in all kinds of ways,” she says. “When Joanne hands off her donors, she’s doing her job. If I see an opportunity to connect with a donor on the local level, then shame on me for not telling the local office — and vice versa.”