Posts Tagged ‘Stewardship’
A Remarkable Act of Generosity
Posted by JBA in Boards & Leadership, Donor Cultivation on August 18th, 2009
“[W]hatever you do … don’t ever forget that people always come first. If you pay attention to them and show that you care every bit as much about them as you do their philanthropy, well, truly wonderful things can happen.”
We have all heard about donors making million-dollar-plus gifts and the impact such generosity had on the recipient charity. In America, this generosity is evidenced regularly with hundreds, even thousands of million-dollar gifts occurring annually.
Like most fundraisers, I think about what truly motivates a person to give that much away and what I can do to see about getting such a gift for my clients. There is no doubt that a worthy organization with a particularly compelling need can be successful in attracting seven-figure gifts. But, I have found over the years that almost as important is taking the time to get to know your donors and paying particular attention to “the little things.”
Does absence make the heart grow fonder?
Posted by JBA in Stewardship on July 8th, 2009
After nearly 20 years of absence, my alma mater has decided to reconnect with me for the purposes of fundraising. I’ve had messages from the Director of Development, personal letters and lots of other informational direct mail.
I’m not sure how I feel about their recent efforts to reach out. At times I am disturbed because there was no communication for such a long time. But knowing what I now know about fundraising, I guess it’s better-late-than-never.
Should I now feel engaged with my alma mater and consider a donation, or is it right to harbor some level of ill-will after all these years?
Regardless of how I react, it goes to show that good stewardship has a rather lengthy life-span.