The article Donor Relations and Stewardship Defined, from the Association of Donor Relations Professionals, outlines the four elements of donor relations: gift acceptance and management, acknowledgement, donor recognition, and reporting.
Network for Good
These and more useful articles on taking care of your donors can be found at www.networkforgood.org:
- 3 Ways to Improve Your Next Fundraising Appeal
- A Sample Donor Appreciation Certificate
- Be Your Donor Day
- Five Ways to Cultivate Your Donors—Personally
- How Strong Relationships Increase Fundraising Results
- How to Combat Donor Fatigue
- How to Cultivate Donors Online: The “Field of Dreams” Problem and How to Fix It
- How “Wow!” Experiences Create Lifetime Donors
- New Donor Bonding: The Amazing Value of Loyal Donors
- Rapid Donor Cultivation
- Thanks a Million: How to Thank Your Donors So They’ll Come Back and Give More
- The 3 Things Your Donor Thank You Must Do
- The Triple-threat of Successful Stewardship: Be Generous, Grateful… and Lazy?
- What Your Donors Aren’t Telling You
Compilation by The Center for Association Leadership
Here are five articles and sites to help your thank you efforts resonate well with donors, compiled at www,asaecenter.org:
- In “The Art of Recognizing and Thanking Your Donors,” longtime fundraising consultant Terry Axelrod, author of The Joy of Fundraising (Benevon Publications, 2006), emphasizes the thank-you power of sharing details and statistics, incorporating personal touches and, increasingly, moving from donor gifts to results-oriented stories.
- “Smaller Charities Need Creativity and Care When Recognizing Donors,” a well-written 2003 article by Kimberlee Roth in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, discusses aligning your organization’s efforts to express gratitude with your donors’ particular values and wishes, including the desire of some not to be thanked publicly or effusively.
