If you think fundraising is all about asking, you're missing something. You're probably also missing a lot of donations.
Fundraising is a two-way conversation. Donors give you money (and maybe other things like time and influence). You give donors reasons to be glad they give.
Here are some ways to work on your part of the relationship, at Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog, Ramp Up Your Donor Relations:
- Spend as much time on your thank you letters as you do on your annual appeal letter
- Make all your communications donor focused
- Find ways to keep your donors engaged and make them feel appreciated
- Find out how your donors want you to communicate with them
That first one is so important -- yet so rarely done. Your thank-you communications should be:
- Just as specific as your ask
- Just as emotional as your ask
- Just as powerfully written
- Just as well designed
If you're sending the same thank you to someone who gave to your capital campaign as to someone who gave to an emergency appeal, you are missing the power of the relationship. You are losing donors, and you deserve it!
