Donor Relationship Management

There is a friendly debate going on between a major gift officer, with a great deal of experience, and me. The subject is about the use of receipt returns in major gifts—that tiny, tear-off "coupon" that is attached to the official receipt that goes to a donor...

The problem with the ease of communicating these days is, well, we talk too much! And too often, we aren’t really communicating with people who really want to engage in that particular conversation at that particular time. Before you move into the busy last four months of the year, take time to consider your donor audience...

Communicating effectively with your donors and would-be investors is the first step in achieving fundraising success. I’m talking about communicating with your supporters in ways that attract their attention, give them confidence that you’re really doing something worthwhile...

With the rise of laptops, smartphones, social media and more, nonprofits now have more tools available to them for engaging donors than ever before. The problem that comes with having so many choices, however, is that it can be difficult to figure out exactly which engagement techniques are most effective. To complicate the matter even further,…

Donor fatigue is a theory I’ve never fully subscribed to. Largely, because I don’t think people get tired of giving. I believe they get tired of uninspired, cookie-cutter solicitations that lack personal significance. If we’re doing our job poorly, an accusatory finger should be pointed inwardly, not at the general public. Some things in life…

Do loyalty “clubs” really matter to today’s donors? With or without a club or membership, there are success factors, or consumer needs, that I believe good fundraising strategies have delivered for a while and must continue to deliver...

If you have been trained correctly as a development professional you are taught to be donor-centered, provide outstanding customer-service and essentially strive to say “yes” to donors. I mean, just about every blog post that Richard and I write emphasizes in some way how to best serve your donors. We say it over and over again because, as industry professionals, you still don’t have putting donors first ingrained enough in your DNA. You’re getting better, but we still have work to do.

A charity that spends 20 percent on overhead and knocks its mission out of the ballpark is not less worthy of support than one that spends 10 percent on overhead but helps relatively few people. It’s one way of assessing things, but not necessarily the most meaningful...

Twice in the past month I visited with a CEO who had the sinking feeling that it was time to replace the nonprofit's chief development officer. The reason in both instances: a failure to connect with people. Both explained that unless pushed, their chief development officers would go to events and prefer to sit at their tables and not connect with the guests...

In the past, philanthropy was predicated on the not-so-average person doing a not-so-average thing. Giving his or her money to people and trusting us with his or her investments. Many times, this was done in what I call blind faith, meaning that the donor saw an organization doing good in the world, wanted to make…