Your 2021 year-end fundraising campaign

Your 2021 year-end fundraising campaign begins this month.

The success of your fundraising for the year is based on the level of relationship you have with your donors. It doesn’t matter if your donors are new or have been donating for years; whether they have donated $50 or $5,000; whether you know them well or have never heard from them aside from their donations.

Figure out now how you will build and grow a relationship with them. One thing to keep in mind during this process is to remember that there is not a one size fits all for building a relationship with donors. It’s easier that way of course, and if you create ways to build relationships that honor the individuality of donors you have a chance of growing the relationship to a level you may not have imagined.

This work on relationship building can be part of an overall development plan. What’s a development plan, you ask. Well that’s another blog post entirely. For now I’ll say is a plan for the year on how you, your team and your organization will take actions in supporting your development/fundraising efforts. If you don’t have one right now, don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone. Almost every head of development job listing I see includes having to create a development plan.

I digress.

As you begin to create action items for how to build relationships with your donors, make sure you include others in your plan. This can include your CEO, your board, volunteers, and program staff. Your donor doesn’t always need to hear from you.

Decide how you’ll connect with your donors. What does the communication look like? As you think of this, don’t get stuck in thoughts like “what if they don’t respond”? That’s not relevant right now.

All of the time and energy you put into building that all-important relationship with your donor throughout the year, beginning now, will become a vital part of your fundraising efforts at the end of the year.

Questions about this? [email protected]

Thank you for reading!