Building Relationships - Back to Basics

Happy New Year! It’s been too long since I posted anything here. The “tripledemic” got me and it’s been a slow month-long slog back to something resembling health. Get your boosters and flu shots, people!

I have so many things I want to share – some fascinating research we’ve been doing, insights we’re developing – but that will need to wait until I meet some pending deadlines. For now, I want to go back to my gift officer roots.

While I focus on marketing, I tell my clients that marketing is only as good as their ability to leverage it. And in legacy/mid/major giving, that goes double. Marketing is lead generation and opens doors – but gift officers need to step through.

I could rant about how the culture of pointless metrics and gift counting and crediting are killing fundraising, but anyone who knows me has heard it before and the rest of you probably don’t have time for it right now.

But what also seems to be missing these days is creativity, ingenuity, a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit, and real skills at building authentic connections. I hear so often that donors don’t return calls and don't want to meet.

Yet every donor I speak to – which I do regularly while interviewing them for articles as well as in focus group and other similar activities – yearns for a personal connection with the organizations they love. And they are, to a person, wonderful. They care, so much. They have life experiences that inform their giving. Sometimes I get to exchange recipes and knitting patterns with them! They will speak at length about organization staff with whom they feel particularly close. They are the opposite of disengaged.

But there’s a disconnect between what we think they want/what we’re offering and what they really want. Why don’t you just ask them? I do.

They want to hear from the people doing the work on the ground. They want to find ways to help beyond just writing checks. They are uncomfortable with fancy events, luncheons, “recognition”, and most of what passes as stewardship these days. They want to trust the organization and its representatives. They don’t want to have uncomfortable meetings with unfamiliar and ever-changing gift officers who only try to get them to sign forms or give more.

Here are some ideas that I’ve utilized in my front line fundraising work and that donors have suggested I share with gift officers looking to make connections with them. You’ll notice that none of them require technical gift planning skills.

· Ignore the donor research, wealth rating, or other “paper” information. When I interview donors for my clients, I make a point of ignoring the research files that are shared with me (unless there is something that I really need to know to not put my foot in my mouth or something!) And I just enjoy getting to know them and learning who they are. I usually end up knowing everything that’s in that file and a lot more besides.

· Make friends with your program staff and get them on speed-dial so you can introduce them to supporters who care about their area of work. Bring them with you on visits.

· Offer an opportunity that is fun/interesting. No one really looks forward to a gift officer sitting awkwardly in their living room. Is there an art museum, gallery or other cultural organization in their town that has an exhibit tangentially related to your mission? Ask some local supporters to join you to view it and have coffee in the museum café afterwards. Book readings, musical performances, etc. are all possibilities. I once went on an afternoon frolic with a donor to try four different ice cream stands in her vacation town. A high point in my career.

· Send a book, an article, information about something they might like to learn or something you noticed that caught your eye and made you think of them. Even better if it’s your own copy with your notes in the margins.

· Offer interesting webinars, small group Zoom discussions, and other similar opportunities to engage with team members who are doing cool work. My client Sempervirens Fund has a WONDERFUL webinar series called Under the Redwoods. The supporters I’ve talked with all mention as something they seek out. Check it out: sempervirens.org/learn/under-the-redwoods

· Share something real. Not overly-produced reports or generic updates. Ask program staff to take some photos/videos when in the field and share them. If you’re out there, do the same. I once went out of country to visit a project funded by a bequest. I took a few really unflattering selfies and slightly-out-of-focus pictures of the project with my ancient phone and immediately sent them to a group of legacy prospects I’d never been able to connect with. I told them I’d be back the following week and would love to share my experience with them. I got a ton of people responding and wanting to learn more.

· Ask for feedback. And not as a pretext. I’m working on updating legacy propositions for a number of clients and have been asking their donors to help me. We’ve done some focus groups, I’ve spoken to donors individually, I’ve asked for opinions on materials. Every supporter has thanked me for taking the time to really hear them – without asking for anything and with no ulterior motive. And in fact, several shared legacy gift plans or future gift intentions with me spontaneously.

· Finally – call to say thank you. I spoke a supporter who created several birthday fundraisers on Facebook for charities he liked. He told me that my client was the only organization that called to thank him. Ugh. It’s not a coincidence that this client has the best culture of donor appreciation I’ve ever seen. Everyone participates.

If you have other great ideas, send me a note! I’d love to share them. A special call out to Tim Rogers at Oxfam, Amanda Krauss at Sempervirens Fund, Connie Grandmason at Special Olympics, and Lourdes Hernandez at City of Hope. They are the best in the business at connecting with supporters in a warm and authentic way.