8 Tips to Build Relationship Fundraising

1. Understand the difference between gratitude and appreciation and show your donors both.
2. Have a donor database that you use, regardless of whether that database is in Excel, is one of the many off-the-shelf packages or custom-made for your organization. Make sure that everyone in your organization knows to funnel all information learned about donors to the handler of that database.
3. Make sure that everyone in your organization understands that s/he is a fundraiser, regardless of title.
4. Put into your schedule your donor “touches”, be it a “random” phone call or a face-to-face contact. And then adhere to that schedule.
5. Delight in your work as a fundraiser!
6. Research your corporate donors as you would an individual. If you reach the maximum gift that a corporation will make, you have reached your max with the company. If you haven’t already, turn your attention to wooing the individual employees of that corporation and turn them into individual donors.
7. Be sure that 100% of your board members make annual contributions to the organization.
8. In fundraising, it is all about the donor, not about your organization.