Donor Relationship Management

Fundraising communication is different—understand the variances, make it personal and consistent, and you will be taking great strides in deepening donor relationships...

Several years back, a popular consumer product used the tag line, “Accept no substitutes,” to claim singular distinction for their product. The implication here is that the quality of the product is so high, the essence of the experience so fulfilling that you’ll never want anything else. Ever...

One of the great fallacies in the nonprofit fundraising world is that fundraising professionals take donor relationships with them from organization to organization. It is not an effective strategy, and it is wrong and unethical. It is a significant way fundraising differs from other professions...

Let’s say you’ve been asked to write the year-end appeal for your organization. Now you’re staring at that proverbial blank sheet of paper or more likely, the new (and wordless) document you’ve opened on your computer. You feel the pressure mounting …And now what do you do?...

Client success stories must be collected, shared often and treated like gold—because they are! Authentic anecdotes help retain your employees and volunteers when they begin to feel burned out and overwhelmed. Personalized impact stores will inspire your donors to dig just a little deeper for your cause...

True story. Earlier in my fundraising career, I was working in Virginia and putting a trip to Boston together to visit some donors and prospects we had there. I still remember one particular telephone conversation like it was yesterday. I want you to read it and think of three things I did wrong...

Each year, approximately 10 percent of your nonprofit donor base will attrite naturally through death, moving or just not giving any longer. Then, you add lapsed donors on top of that natural attrition, and you are looking at an eroding donor list. Sound familiar?...

When considering giving motivations, most nonprofits turn to their well-tested case for giving or a list of organizational features. More sophisticated organizations turn to recent survey data that provides details about their donor base or a group of donor personas...

When considering giving motivations, most nonprofits turn to their well-tested case for giving or a list of organizational features. More sophisticated organizations turn to recent survey data that provides details about their donor base or a group of donor personas. However, it’s not enough to use either source to determine true donor motivation due to […]

For most people, asking for gifts in person is difficult. And when you are asking for one of the top campaign gifts, it’s even harder because the stakes are super high. Chances are, you don’t have very many donors who would consider giving one of those lead gifts. So, it’s no surprise that when you ask those donors for very big gifts, you are anxious...