Fundraising = Relationships: Soft Metrics or How do we know we have done a good job?

 

We can find dozens of articles from the Association of Fundraising Professionals and other credible sources, but equally we can go with what we know instinctively.

 

Relationship building is a lifecycle

·         Donor prospecting/cultivation – find them

·         Donor engagement – get them interested and on board

·         Donor increase in giving – encourage greater participation

·         Donor as advocate – when the donor becomes an ambassador to peer exponential growth become possible.

·         Donor bequest – the commitment to a legacy gift is the greatest testament of donor confidence.

 

First rule: Don’t take an engagement ring on the first date. It is off putting.  Relationships develop over time.

Second rule: Relationships are two-fold – the relation between organizational rep and donor and the relation between organization and donor. The organization will outlast the rep (or it is a really shaky org) so make sure that the org and donor have a real relationship.

Third rule: Relationships are transactional. One way is not sustainable over time – donors get bored, feel used, feel unloved, and move on unless they are engaged.

 

Metric: Stay in touch. The longer the interval in actual person-to-person communication (newsletters don’t count), the colder the call when you make it. Calling for no real reason often sparks suspicion and just feels awkward for all involved, therefore use any logical reason to touch base (call, email, message) such as upcoming talks or webinars, events such as  5k run or wine pull (according to possible interests of the donor!), birthdays, and art exhibits or sports team standings.

 

NOTA BENE: Our wide range of donors have different preferences for communication – text, FB Messenger, phone call, email, letter (not form).

 

 

Donors are a moving target

·         Donors come and go – if they get bored with us or more excited by another organization, they move on

·         Donors are multi-faceted – they likely support more than one organization, not just ours AND there is likely a hierarchy in the donors mind of which organization should receive the bigger check.

·         Donors have lives – Things happen – small children in school evolving to empty nesters, career changes, household moves, death of a spouse, divorces, etc  – and if we keep them through good times and bad, there may be ups and downs in giving that may or may not reflect how much they like our org.

 

First rule:  Stay on top of the info -  new addresses, new phone numbers, new emails, new employers, new spouses, new last names – we have to watch for every clue and update as best we can. Jot down the number on the caller ID , observe the email address sending an RSVP.

Second rule:  Connect the dots – obits are the best tool for confirming who is married to whom, parents’ names, children’s names, and more. Glean information everywhere you can and stow it in RE.

Third rule: Track as best you can the community involvement of donors – other orgs they support, their memberships, their passions and interest…these latter make for good talking points.

 

Metric: Continually update records. Time spent on updating information is well spent.

 

 

Know the product

·         Donors have heard our standard speech – ever go to a comedy club for the second set by the same comedian? Or a concert tour where the band does some “spontaneous” banter by rote in the next city?

·         Donors want to know what is new now – fair question, don’t we all?

·         Donors want to know --- lots of things

 

First rule:  Keep up as best you can with changes within your own organization– be they virus related or not – because someone may ask you and it would be nice to have an answer ready.

Second rule: Find ways to engage your co-workers in departments/areas where programmatic work is taking place, i.e. the trenches floor. It’s an eye opener. You’ll learn much more than the talking points in your brochures.

Third rule: Give tours of programmatic areas (in non pandemic times) and GO ON tours with co-workers who may have different perspectives and talking points. Be a secret shopper with a notepad. You would learn something new, but it is also about watching the donor’s interest peak or wane, listening to what they ask.

Fourth rule: Share what you learn with your co-workers in development.

 

Metric: Learn more about your organization at every opportunity and build relationships within the organization as well as outside the organization.