Funding Friday: The Gift Is the Beginning

The check arrived, someone celebrates, the treasurer records it, and a receipt goes out. It is tempting to consider the fundraising process complete at that point, particularly after a busy year-end campaign, but receiving the gift isn't the end of the donor relationship. In many ways, it is the beginning.

A donor has just told you something important. They believe enough in what you're doing to invest some of their own money in it. What happens next can determine whether that person stays connected to the organization or becomes another name on a spreadsheet nobody looks at again until next November.

Of course, donors should be thanked promptly, but donor stewardship is bigger than a tax receipt and a form letter. Tell them what happened. If they helped pay for a program, show them the program. If they helped provide scholarships, tell them how many students participated. If they helped keep an organization operating, don't be afraid to explain why unrestricted support mattered and what the organization accomplished because it was there.

You also don't need to send another fundraising appeal every time you communicate with a donor. In fact, you shouldn't. Sometimes the entire message can simply be, "Look what you helped make possible." A handwritten note can matter. A photograph can matter. A quick phone call can matter. An invitation to visit can matter. Remembering someone's name when they attend an event can matter.

This matters especially for small nonprofits because relationship-building is one place where smaller organizations can have an advantage. You may not have a sophisticated donor database, a development department, or an expensive fundraising platform, but you can know your people. You can remember why they became involved, recognize them when they show up, and make sure they understand that their contribution mattered.

Year-end fundraising should never become a cycle in which we remember donors every November, ask them for money in December, and forget about them in January. A healthier cycle is to ask, thank, report, engage, and listen throughout the year. Then, when the time eventually comes to ask again, you aren't contacting a stranger who donated twelve months ago. You are talking to someone who has remained part of your organization's community.

Start This Week

Don't wait until gifts arrive to decide how you'll thank donors. As part of your year-end campaign planning, decide who will send acknowledgments, who will make personal thank-you calls, how quickly donors will hear from you, and when you will report back about what their gifts accomplished. The best preparation for next year's fundraising campaign may be how you treat this year's donors.