When you have a symbiotic relationship with donors, they get what they want and need. And you get the money and loyalty that your organization needs. Then, because it’s a win-win situation for both parties, the relationship grows and endures. Here are a few ways to develop and sustain a symbiotic relationship with your donors: 1. Treat them with respect at all times, but don’t fall all over yourself to please them. A symbiotic relationship is, after all, a two-way street. Both parties need to benefit or the relationship becomes a parasitic one for one party and a subservient one for the other. 2.
Bob Knight
May 16, 2006 By Bob Knight As it planned its annual campaign for last fall, United Way of the Lower Mainland on Canada's west coast had no way of knowing that its direct-mail efforts to address one competitor for donor dollars would help it overcome a more serious threat raised by another. The initial competitor was the Make Poverty History campaign that had been launched recently and a supporting Live 8 rock concert that was scheduled for a Canadian venue in July 2005. The question was whether MPH's efforts to eradicate poverty around the world would take away from United Way's
You might have a plan in place to grow your donor base. But do you have a strategy to grow each of your donors? Ways to move them up the hierarchy of commitment so the relationship will endure and raise as much revenue as possible over the long haul?
