Delivering strategies to strengthen donor relationships and increase fundraising performance.
A Side of Thanks with my Gift, Please...
By Nick Parkevich, MPA, CFRE
What do our donors want and how do we ensure that we're meeting their needs? If they have to request thanks and appreciation from you, then you're probably not meeting their basic needs. You say, well of course that makes sense.
But, does your organization's culture and processes tend to leave donors with the feeling that your status as a nonprofit brings you a feeling of entitlement to community support? Unfortunately, so many nonprofit staff and our board members subtly settle into the thought that being a nonprofit somehow means we are "entitled" to a community's support of our mission as opposed to earning their support.
Much of today's monologue stems from a consistent theme that we as consultants witness on a regular basis: a donor or community representative bestows a gift upon an organization and the organization completely fails to express its genuine appreciation and in many cases misses the opportunity to even say "thanks."
At its most basic level, the process of fundraising includes at a minimum four components:
-Donor Identification
-Cultivation
-Solicitation
-Stewardship
Where we often see mistakes made is in the approach organizations take in jumping from identification to solicitation as fast as possible and then moving on to ask the next donor that's been identified. While you may win a few of those, the organizations with some of the strongest resource development programs find a way to fulfill today's immediate financial needs, while building long-term, more meaningful relationships with donors.
I'm guessing that the continued relationship began with an authentic "thank you." When an organization asks me how they can strengthen their relationship with their existing donors, I often ask them whether they are tired of saying "thank you" to their donors yet; and if the answer is no, I say start there. You'll be amazed at the results.
About the blogger: Nick Parkevich, MPA, CFRE, serves as Consultant & Director of Client Development at Achieve, LLC. Nick can be reached by phone at 317-637-3000 or via email at nparkevich@achieveguidance.com.
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