How do you show your donors and prospects love?
Posted by [email protected] on Feb. 16, 2020 / Subscribe 0
Showing Donors Love:
Stewardship! and Stewardship?!
February – a month, thanks to Valentine’s Day, focused on love. Our expressions take many forms… romance and cards (the industry’s second-biggest day), heartfelt appreciation, special thoughtfulness. And, professionally speaking, whom do we love more than our donors and prospects? So, we turn our attention to them and revisit one of our New Year’s resolutions – stewardship.
Stewardship?!
Are we maximizing the opportunities and resources at our disposal to show our donors and prospects appreciation? How do we love them? Let me count some ways:
- Personal phone calls from:
- Those in the C-Suite to major donors, of course, but also to lower level, steady donors.
- Department heads to those who have made restricted gifts or are key vendors and providers.
- Board Members, as appropriate.
- You and your staff.
- Other donors – perhaps a “coffee and…” in the morning; soft drinks, cheese & crackers, vegetables & fruit, etc. in the afternoon or evening. No personal or giving information has to be shared, only that the person they are calling is also a donor. A colleague at a local college recently told me that they have switched from using students to make solicitation calls to alumni to having them make thank you calls. It provides a current connection and eliminates the stress of asking for the student. Why not employ this strategy in healthcare?
- Individual and small group luncheons, dinners, etc. for special donors or top recognition levels.
- Large group thank you/recognition events, perhaps honoring a special donor, who does not have to be the largest donor. It could be someone whose giving has reached a milestone, say 10 or 20 consecutive years, or who has now added a legacy gift to their regular support.
- Recognition of “quiet phase” campaign donors at the public kick-off.
- Email updates – one of our NEAHP colleagues sends a regular, electronic newsletter to his cancer center donors. Contents can range from individual patient stories to a heartfelt “thank you” for his donors’ generosity.
- Special announcements of new programs, gifts, milestones reached, patient stories, etc. ahead of general public announcement.
- Website recognition – both listings and short features.
- Publications – list and highlight donors throughout the year, not just in the annual report.
- Electronic donor walls – if you use this type of recognition, donor photos and acknowledgment can be a year-round, integral component.
- Celebration of volunteers from Auxiliaries/Friends to those stuffing swag bags and helping with registration at your gala and other events, including those who sell raffle tickets.
Stewardship?!
I’d also like to know your experiences with one of my pet peeves – the ask/pledge envelope enclosed with the “thank you” letter. I first became aware of this strategy about 20 years ago when visiting my parents. I picked up a “thank you” from a charity they supported regularly and was stunned to see the envelope and request for the next gift as part of the acknowledgment. There must be some measure of effectiveness because many organizations now employ this strategy.
Frankly, I was, and still am, offended – wasn’t the gift I’m being thanked for good enough? Organizations large and small, national and local, in healthcare and higher education (including, last year, my graduate school) are doing this. It doesn’t sit well here and negatively impacts my support.
Do you make an ask with a thank you? Is it effective? What feedback have you received either verbally or by donor actions? Is there enough feedback to assess the strategy? My bottom-line question is: Is this strategy good stewardship? Could there be a psychological downside even if the strategy is successful?
Your reactions, thoughts and experiences are most welcome.
Next month’s blog will focus on highlights from the 2020 NEAHP Annual Educational Conference in Portsmouth. Will you be there March 16-18? If you haven’t yet registered, there’s no time like the present.
About John
Retiring in 2018 after 26 years as Vice-President with Ghiorsi & Sorrenti, Inc. (GSI), John worked with healthcare providers, secondary and higher education institutions, religious orders and museums to raise nearly $500 million. His areas of expertise include capital campaigns, annual fund development, special events, government and foundation grants and much more. Prior to joining GSI, John was Vice-President for Institutional Advancement at Mercy College and Chief Development Officer at Carlow University. In retirement, John stays busy keeping in touch with GSI and NEAHP friends, colleagues and former clients with whom he enjoys answering questions and discussing gift strategy or career path options.
0 Comments