Do you ever wonder if your donors feel that they are indeed special or do you think they feel like you ignore them?
How many times a year should you have contact with current or potential donors?
If you are on staff of a nonprofit or perhaps the executive director I would like you to for a moment step out of your “job title” and be honest with yourself and put yourself in the donor’s shoes for a moment. Try, if you can, to identify for yourself what you think a meaningful contact might look like.
How personal is email? How personal is direct mail? How personal is a newsletter? All might be good supplemental tools to use to try to maintain some sense of contact or connection to your donor. However, if you rely only on these means to develop a deeper relationship then you are destined to fail.
Every donor, no matter what amount they give would like to know in both their heart and mind that their gift counted for something and matters! Have you fallen in the trap of “pretending to care” for your donor?
Eden Eliot said it best by saying: “We all have the means to bestow on others the most lavish gifts; love, joy, peace, hope, kindness, acceptance, encouragement, laughter, forgiveness, time. There is not enough money to buy them and not too little money to give them. The more you spend, the wealthier you become; yet nothing will cost you more than what you freely possess to give.”
How much do you genuinely “care” about your donor?
DISCLAIMER: This information is not intended to provide legal or accounting advice, or to address specific situations. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor to supplement and verify what you learn here.
