Seven Strategies for Building Meaningful Major-donor Relationships

6. Give appropriate recognition. When your donors receive their personal copy of your annual report, what do you think they read first? Believe it or not, they turn to the donor recognition page(s) and look for their name. So it better be there — and spelled correctly. And depending on their gift level, each donor also should be recognized with certificates, plaques, room/building naming opportunities, etc.

7. Listen, listen, listen. When you effectively communicate, read each survey response carefully, promote engaging events, provide targeted programmatic updates, say thank you sincerely, and bestow appropriate recognition, what you are really doing is listening — and responding in a meaningful way — to what your donor is saying. When it comes to raising essential funds to fulfill your critical mission, what’s more important than that?

Martha H. Schumacher, CFRE, is president of Hazen Inc, provider of fundraising counsel for nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, with a specialization in major gifts strategy, solicitation and training. Contact Martha via (202) 547-2974 or by e-mail at hazeninc@earthlink.net