If you walk into a bookstore, oh snap, wait a minute, there are no more bookstores left ... well, if you browse through Amazon.com in their business section, you'll see scores of books (actually 11,056 books) on how to create great customer service.
These books, by authors like Seth Godin, Marcus Buckingham and others, pontificate relentlessly that in order for your company to stand out in this economy, you have to "Delight your Customer." Or, in our case, "Delight your Donor."
There are two reasons there are so many books on this subject: 1) Because it actually works to provide great customer service and delight the customer, and 2) because we're not smart enough to get that it works, otherwise people wouldn't continue writing about it.
In short, we're idiots!
I don't know how many times I've sat across the table of a development director and asked, "How have you delighted your donors this week?" And all I get is a look of embarrassment on their face.
These are the same people who are running around preaching we need to be donor-focused, donor-centered, donor-you're the center of my universe ... yet, when it comes to actually putting that into practice, it falls to the wayside.
Why does this happen? What keeps us from "Delighting our Donors?" I mean, I think you do want to delight your donors, you know it's and important part of building loyalty, you know it will eventually help bring in more revenue.
What I find more often than not is the daily inertia of your work is so demanding that it's easy to forget.
Okay, you're not an idiot. You're a good person trying to meet all the demands of your day. I get it. There's a lot to do in your work. It's not easy.
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If you like baseball, tennis, golf, Gregorian chant, jazz, rock, good wine and deep conversation, then you’ll like to hang out with Jeff.
If you are passionate about fundraising, Jeff will inspire you to be a true “broker of love” for your donors, helping you bring together a donor’s desire to change the world and the world’s greatest needs. Jeff believes that if nonprofits truly want to grow and obtain more net revenue for their mission, it will come through creating, building and successfully managing major-gift programs. The Connections blog will give you inspiration and practical advice to help you succeed. Jeff has more than 25 years of nonprofit fundraising experience and is senior partner of the Veritus Group.