The Forgotten Foundations of Fundraising

Chapter 5Cultivating Your Donor Garden: From Thank‐Yous to House Files

There is a somewhat macabre pyramid that depicts the evolution of a donor to your organization. At its base is the vast sea of prospects out of which you, to swim briefly in the aquatic metaphor, hook him. But pyramids are not liquid, so the subsequent blocks on the way up the pyramid are solid: letters of gratitude, cultivation through the mail, personal meetings, donor clubs, events, planned giving, and, at the peak, death and the consequent bequest.

It looks inexorable. It's not. Even the most successful nonprofits will lose over one‐half of first‐time givers. Lose too many and you'll close shop.

So how do you turn a one‐time donor into a persistent patron? Let us count the ways….

The first thing you do is the same thing your mother taught you when you were a child receiving a birthday present: You say thanks.

You have to have a gratitude policy. The term strikes the ears harshly, doesn't it? It's like a love protocol or kindness rules. But it is necessary. It should be clear and followed to a T.

Few things are more irritating than not being thanked for a gift, yet you'd be surprised how many nonprofits are derelict in this basic duty. Whether it's a sign of mismanagement or ingratitude or poor childhood training, the failure to extend this commonest of courtesies is self‐defeating: The unthanked are unlikely to come back for another round.

Donor Acknowledgment

What ten‐year‐old hasn't grumbled through ...