Donor Relationship Management

Susan and I had a recent conversation on how her organization, a nonprofit focused on education for disadvantaged youth, can expand its donor reach. Her complaint is a similar one. “We’re in a relatively small community. There must be a thousand nonprofits here competing for the same donors. We’re seeing a lot of donor fatigue.” ...

One of the best gifts you can give a donor is a photo of the people their gift is impacting. For donors, we would often frame a photo as a thank-you gift. More often than not, when we would make a follow-up visit to the donor’s office, we would see that framed photo proudly displayed...

Effective major gifts work is, at its essence, serving the interests and passions of a donor. This may sound formulaic—it may sound basic and boring. But, just do this (and do it well) and you will be wildly successful. Don’t ever search for a replacement to a tried-and-true formula for doing anything. Instead, use the formula or approach and innovate within it...

Have a fundraising challenge you want to crack? Weary of doing the same old, same old yet hoping for different outcomes? Do you want the over-the-top results that come from superior strategy? Email me with your particular problem, and I’ll arrange a quick consultation offering you a practical solution you can implement. I may even…

The conventional fundraising wisdom is if we only have the right map coordinates and secret handshake, we’re in. And so, our fundraising challenges will miraculously evaporate. Countless webinars, short courses and workshops claim to offer this treasure map. Well I’m here to tell you this tale is half right. It’s not the half you imagine, however...

I have been tracking the journey of a donor, who is no longer with us, who gave a very sizable gift of more than $800 million to a nonprofit before he passed away. How can I be tracking the journey of a donor who has passed away? Because this donor not only gave the organization more than $800 million, he also left an estate of equal size to his kids, wife and grandchildren as well. And all of this wonderful giving has been managed by the nonprofit in a manner that is, well, amazing to behold...

If your board needs a spark, a stoking of the embers to get the fire roaring again, I have some ideas for you. They come under the headings of inspiring, exciting and directing your board. If you can do these three things with your board of directors, good things will come to your major gift program and organization...

You can’t consume them in five minutes. Yet all too often nonprofits treat their donors exactly like a gumball dispensed from a machine. Chew it up. Spit it out. Done. Oh yeah, maybe you send a quick "thanks" to whomever gave you the change to buy the gum. But that’s as far as your gratitude takes you. You’re over it...

The annual appeal concept is one that holds to the idea that donors give one time, once a year, hence the words “annual gift” or the question, “Has the donor made their annual gift yet?” Fundraising programs built on this philosophy look to secure that one gift once a year, and then the work is finished. There are several things wrong with this concept...

The last of the three articles on the roles in soliciting, this week I take up the role that many people see as the sum total of the ask: the individual that actually does the asking. I call it the “rainmaker.” What does the rainmaker do? In fundraising, the rainmaker makes things happen...