At Rescigno’s, we care very much about helping you connect donors to your mission—it’s how you get donors excited and it’s in the building of a relationship that the connection deepens.
When you practice building a relationship with your donors you’re thinking long term—the goal being multiple gifts that increase in value rather than just one large donation.
When there is no relationship and you get a gift a transaction has occurred. In this kind of relationship the focus is on a specific dollar amount. Whether the donor gives more than one gift is non-essential because the goal for that individual has been met.
As a fundraising professional you and your staff should understand that a first-time gift may be smaller initially, but in the end, more will be gained over time. Why? Because the cost that goes along with finding new one-time givers is negated.
Some call this the donor experience. It starts with an awareness of your cause and becomes, over time, a commitment to investing regularly in helping you fulfill your mission.
This “experience” usually consists of the following:
You connect the donor with the need of those who will be helped.
You provide donors with choices to get involved more deeply.
You communicate much more about those who will be helped and much less about the organization.
You help donors imagine how they will feel when they invest more deeply.
Here’s Where the Real Benefit of a Relationship Happens
The lifetime value of a caring, committed donor greatly exceeds the amount you raise via a transactional rather than relationship-based approach.