International Voices on Fundraising: How to be 15 Minutes Ahead

In understanding and listening to donors

* Meet your donors at every opportunity. Ask their opinions and listen to their advice. (Obvious, I know. But most don’t do it. Yet, it’s the best form of regular research. And it builds trust, confidence and loyalty. And it’s free!)

* Make yours a listening organisation (train yourself/colleagues in donor care; offer your donors a say in formulating your strategy; encourage feedback, comments, questions and complaints; regularly research your donors’ views and lapsed donors too; survey and measure donors’ satisfaction, keeping simple indices which in time will become key performance indicators, the regular data you use to monitor fundraising performance — you’ll be ahead in this, because most fundraisers only measure their performance in money received now).