Donor Relationship Management

Major-gift givers tend to be a small number of highly capable people who have liquid wealth. The key for nonprofit organizations is to locate them and develop a long-term relationship with them. Wealth research can help organizations do this. “If we use only giving information as a guide, we inevitably will under-cultivate and underestimate the potential wealth and interest of our constituents,” says Jay Frost, chief strategy officer for data-mining firm WealthEngine, because people who have wealth don’t necessarily give in a way that suggests that wealth. “By focusing exclusively on affinity or, in other words, seeing who has given before and

One of the first steps to securing major gifts is honing in on affluent individuals capable of giving large gifts. But once that’s done, cultivating major gifts from these potential givers requires careful, personal touches. And it’s important to remember that not all of these potential major donors give for the same reason and respond to the same solicitation approaches. The book “The Seven Faces of Philanthropy: A New Approach to Cultivating Major Donors” by Russ Alan Prince and Karen Maru File, presents a donor-centered approach to understanding affluent donors, categorizing them into seven different motivational types. The beginning chapters of the

The key strategy to turning direct-mail constituents into major-gift donors is stewardship, says Karen Osborne, president of full-service consulting firm The Osborne Group. Stewardship is “more than sending out a thank-you note,” Osborne says. It is an addition to the suite of things an organization does through direct mail -- such as adding impact statements in a post-thank-you touch that communicate the difference a donor’s gift made. “The thank-you is just, ‘this is what we promise to do with your money.’ Stewardship is, ‘this is in fact what we did with your money.’ It’s the delivery on the promise,” Osborne says. For

Something strange often happens when nonprofits turn their attention to branding. Here’s how you can avoid the nightmare branding sometimes unleashes on unwary organizations. You can sense the evil magic, tingling like static electricity. That’s one sign brand shamans are at work in a nonprofit. Other signs include: * Rampant scheduling of focus groups. * Nonstop chanting of the word “standards,” like a spooky mantra. * Appearance of spiral-bound books filled with pictures of ways the logo should not be used. “Branding” has swept through the nonprofit world. This should make communication better. But it hasn’t turned out that way. Branding actually has done more harm than good.

When the ‘other Margaret’ (you know, the editor-in-chief of FS magazine) asked me to write this article, I immediately thought of my first mentor and his canny advice: “Margaret, the donor is always right — even when they’re wrong.” After years of practice and thousands of conversations, I have to admit he was right! Situation ONE: Donor calls and wants to speak to someone “in charge.” That’s you. In less than a minute, you have the picture: “I told you to stop sending so much mail. I give twice a year — that’s it!” As you check the database you see that, for the past three

Long before 9/11, firefighters and police officers were considered heroes. And they should be. Consider these statistics from the National Volunteer Fire Council:

Two events caught my attention recently because of their implications for all of fundraising. The first was a direct-mail appeal letter that provided solid clues about donor trust. The second was publication of a new book about who gives in America. Strategically aware fundraisers can glean valuable opportunities from both.

Online message boards can transform your Web presence from a one-sided mouthpiece for your organization to a place for interactive dialogue that allows visitors to communicate with you and with each other. Message boards not only encourage communication, but they foster community and accessibility. Message boards offer a specific location where constituents can gather, allow almost real-time communication and easy navigation through message threads, and archive conversations, writes Susan Tenby, online community manager for TechSoup, online provider of nonprofit technology services that include news and articles, discussion forums, and discounted and donated technology products, in her white paper “Using Message Boards to Build Community.”

There is a new voice being heard on nonprofit Web sites. It’s the voice of Web site visitors stepping up, speaking out and taking part in their own online community spaces — blogs, discussion groups and more — and it’s changing the way nonprofits think about their Web sites, and about their strategic approaches to reach out and engage their constituents and supporters. Many nonprofits have “brochure” Web sites with pages that present read-only information about an organization’s goals, activities and accomplishments. These sites may be attractive and informative, but they don’t actively engage the Web site audience. Because of this, they are giving

Online message boards offer myriad benefits to constituents in search of support, information and community. Key to the success of a message board is a core group of people that can be relied on to keep conversations moving. The Alzheimer’s Association, a voluntary health organization dedicated to finding prevention methods, treatments and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, offers constituents a host of online message boards and chat rooms where they can share their thoughts and experiences, ask colleagues questions, and make friends. The message boards are grouped by topic and include a board for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, a forum for caregivers,