Donor Relationship Management

To be a great major gifts officer, you must be curious about donors. Here are practical questions to unlock your donor’s interests.

The better you know your donor, the better your appeal is going to be. That’s obvious. The problem is your donor is probably coming from a completely different experiential background. How do you get inside that person’s head?

Storytelling can entertain, educate and entice people to act. Nonprofits have more stories at their fingertips than any other organization. Nonprofits that create an internal storytelling culture can excite staff and volunteers, entice new supporters, strengthen relationships with donors, and raise more funds.

Trust is your nonprofit’s most valuable asset. Donors support your mission so you will make something they think is important happen.

When nurtured successfully, relationships with donors will pay off economically in surprising ways.

A blunder is a careless mistake. It happens when you don’t 100% have a handle on what you’re doing, so taking good care becomes challenging. Have you ever blundered into disaster asking for a major gift? Let's review the top eight blunders I have encountered.

Turns out love has everything to do with fundraising. Relationship Fundraising 3.0 from the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy proves it.

You can use an anniversary as a special day, even a whole special year as long as you don’t make it about you, the organization, but make it about you, the donor.

Nonprofits can and should utilize special days like Valentine’s Day, Earth Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and even World Toilet Day for special giving campaigns.

A Definitive Guide to the Stages and Engagement Strategies