Donor Relations and Stewardship

by Dawn Borgeest Are you unwittingly on the “yellow brick road” searching for the Wizard of Oz to tell you where you can find new donors? Never mind finding donors, set your sights on finding the right friends. Here are three sure-fire strategies to help you find them. I dare say the bane of any development officer’s work is donor acquisition. Just how do you find new donors to support your…

Don’t you wish you had a crystal ball to tell you if your next major campaign will be successful? Well, we don’t have a crystal ball, but we do have the next best thing – a feasibility study. fea·si·bil·i·ty stud·y/ˌfēzəˈbilədē ˈstədē/Noun - an assessment of the practicality of a proposed plan or method. When contemplating a campaign, a feasibility study can help determine the…

Stewarding donors is a vital and indispensable in ensuring retention and continued loyalty – not to mention creating opportunities to deepen your donor relationships. As defined in Merriam Webster dictionary, stewardship is the conducting, supervising, or managing of something, especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. For us in advancement, our…

By Dawn Borgeest What donors find important when being thanked for their gift. The five P’s of memorable and meaningful thank you notes. We all know the importance of thanking donors for their support. But how do we make it meaningful and memorable? How do we do it in a way that reflects our gratitude and deepens our relationship with the donor? To help answer that question, I fielded an…

The homepage of Lynne Wester’s website cites an alarming statistic: “…the current first-time donor retention rate is 22%.” That statement should strike fear in the hearts of fundraisers everywhere. She goes on to point out that the cost of recruiting a new donor is seven times more than the cost to retain one. Lynne Wester: "Fundraisers are faced with a major problem regarding the…

Having started her career in Advancement Services in 1987, Deb Cunningham is well qualified to observe how AS has evolved over the years. When we spoke to her in 2014, she emphasized that data and the tools to interpret data had become major drivers of change in the profession.

Advancement professionals must learn to be agile, adaptable, and resourceful. That is certainly true when it comes to donor relations and stewardship. As Erin Moyer advises in this interview, “Embrace knowing that there will always be something you don’t know or were not prepared for…"

Cynthia Woolbright uses an example involving a coffee mug to illustrate “best practices” when it comes to donor relations.

In her video blog on donor relations and stewardship, Cynthia Woolbright uses an example involving a coffee mug to illustrate “best practices” when it comes to donor relations.

Eve Forbes is onto something. In eight years, she has transformed Trinity College’s 21 year-old Legacy Giving Program by embracing a new way of thinking about its donors.

Interview with David McMullen, Interim Senior Director of Development; Director of Donor Relations, Catholic University of America