Fundraising

Reciprocate the Relationship

Reciprocate the Relationship

I presented the "Marketing and Communications for Fundraising & Development" module for the CFRE review course last summer, sponsored by the Dallas and Fort Worth chapters of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Much of the emphasis of this particular module is the concept that our marketing and communications for fundraising and development must be donor-centric, but what does that really mean?

Follow up. Follow up. Follow up.

Follow up. Follow up. Follow up.

I can vividly recall my American Heart Association fundraising and volunteer engagement training in the late 1980's. Teams of AHA staff were in small groups discussing the important steps to success. The assigned "reporter" from one of the groups used an entire flip chart page to write "Follow up! Follow up! Follow up!" and he used a red marker to add emphasis. The primary point: As one engages donors, sponsors, and volunteers, follow up will be an absolute necessity. I learned this to be true during my American Heart Association career and beyond.