Donor Relationship Management

Trends change every year, bringing new opportunities that are tied to new challenges. Many of them impact donor and volunteer perceptions. Based on my time working in the nonprofit environment, I'm noting specific trends in anticipation for the remainder of 2017. Here are some of the challenges I foresee and some thoughts on how to…

You must understand you have a unique personality and traits. Like dating, everyone is different and all of us relate differently to the staff, volunteers, prospects, donors and others we meet. Some will connect to us and some will not connect to us. In all cases, you need to be professional, honest, ethical, institutionally driven, have high expectations and persevere...

When is a donor-cultivation event more about building your organization’s profile than it is about fundraising? How can you be sure that your “friendraiser” is actually moving you towards the achievement of your fundraising goals? Events can be great fun, excellent for networking and for catching up with people in the community, but sometimes I…

One of the toughest challenges in our sector is getting donors to give time and time again—to get one-time donors to become repeat donors. Perhaps it’s showing donors the impact that the organization is making or having a mission powerful enough for donors to want to be a part of the organization. Perhaps simplifying the…

All of us in major gifts know that there are different stages in the major-gift process. Many brilliant major-gift people have written about it. Words like identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship come to mind as descriptors of some big stages or phases of major gifts...

It may sound hokey, but try to keep a gratitude journal. Not just any gratitude journal, but a donor-gratitude journal. Write down five things each week about why you’re grateful to your donors. You can be grateful to specific donors or to donors as a group. Just get in the habit of thinking about what you’re specifically grateful for...

There is definitely the tendency in our sector to write off “in-memoriam” donors as one-time donors, yet I think we must understand the emotional connection and make an effort to grow that relationship—with tact and in the gentlest, most-loving way possible...

Let me say this one final time. No discipline—no growth. Major gifts are all about staying focused on the plan and working it. This requires meeting consistently with a manager to discuss what has been done and what you will be doing to nurture relationships with your donors. Do this and you will be successful...

Passion is defined as compelling enthusiasm. Imagine if your donors simply oozed with excitement about the work you do at your organization (not just for the cause in general). How would they be different from the donors who just melt away, day after day, like the ice cube in the bowl?..

Your organization’s major donors are, after all, right in your backyard. Yep, they’re already in your donor database, and you just have to know how to work them. Here’s the 411: If you’re not honoring your first-time or small-dollar donors and if your systems are broken, you’re going to have a hard time getting from here…to there...