Thoughts from the Group

There’s a hard truth in donor relations that we don’t talk about enough: Most donor experience problems are not people problems. They’re process problems. Your donors are probably not upset because your staff doesn’t care. They’re most likely upset because: The thank-you letter arrived six weeks late. Their name was misspelled for the third time. They received three appeals before one stewardship report. No one noticed they stopped engaging months ago. The event invitation we

Recognition societies are a hotly debated topic in fundraising circles, including among those of us at DRG. Our recent Pulse of Donor Relations highlighted this debate: for the first time in years, we saw an uptick in practitioners who believe recognition societies are effective. Even so, the question remains: to society? Or not to society? Data from the 2025 Pulse of Donor Relations Report I have seen recognition societies work beautifully. The organizations who get it right

If there’s one constant in philanthropy right now, it’s change. We’re always encountering new challenges. New donor expectations. New technologies. Increased scrutiny. A growing demand for transparency. Yet, for many organizations, donor relations practices haven’t kept pace, and that’s where the tension lives. We ask our teams to operate in a rapidly changing external environment while relying on internal systems, definitions, and mindsets that were created for a different e

When I worked at Disney, I learned a lot about creating extraordinary experiences. But one of the most powerful lessons learned had nothing to do with parades, character breakfasts, or fireworks. It had everything to do with how to make change and how to handle complaints when you do. At Disney, we had what we called the 10% rule. If we made a change: say we swapped out a menu item, rerouted a parade, or redesigned an attraction it was never done on a whim. Teams of experts h

I know we preach it often, but donor reporting is one of the most critical areas of your donor relations program. Donors must be informed about the impact of their giving if you want them to give again. But having a reporting structure alone does not necessarily make your program effective. That’s why it is important to assess whether your reporting is meeting your organization’s goals and needs. So, how do you know if your reporting is actually working? Well first, it starts

For nearly four decades, I’ve worked on donor events. When I started, conferences and professional development didn’t teach us how to design meaningful experiences—they taught us how to plan great parties. The formula was predictable: a large gathering, a long program, multiple speakers, and a clear fundraising goal. And for a long time, it worked. But over the past decade—accelerated by how people now engage with information and shifting expectations—that model hasn’t simply

Penelope Burk, the surveying sage and author of Donor Centered Fundraising , has verified through countless iterations of her research that 93% of individual donors would definitely or probably give again the next time they were asked if a charity did two simple things: Thanked them promptly in a personal way, and Followed up later with a meaningful report on the program they had funded. If you’re looking for the keys to donor retention…look no further! The real challenge, o

Let me tell you something you already know deep down, but maybe don’t want to say out loud: we all mess up. Yup. Every last one of us in donor relations and fundraising has, at some point, hit “send” on an email with the wrong salutation , mailed a thank-you letter to a donor who passed away months ago, or cheerfully invited a “valued donor” to a stewardship event...that they already RSVP’d to—and declined. I’ve been there. You’ve been there. Anyone who’s done this work longe

Artificial intelligence is no longer just theoretical. It’s here. It’s being used. And in many cases, it’s being used without policy. Recent sector conversations and institutional case studies show a clear trend: while many nonprofit and higher education organizations say they are “not officially using generative AI,” staff members are already experimenting on their own. As one higher education leader described it, when asked whether institutions are using generative AI, most

A few years ago, we asked a group of alumni board members to do something simple before our next meeting. We asked them to bring every piece of mail and donor communication they had received from the university over a three-month period. These were not one-time donors but deeply engaged alumni who supported multiple schools, programs, and priorities across campus and consistently showed up by attending events, volunteering their time, answering our calls, and investing deeply

Donor relations teams know this truth well: impact reporting works best when it follows a plan. And yet, too often, organizations jump straight to creating the reports. They may be beautiful. They may be thoughtful. They may take weeks (or months) to produce. But many times, we create them without first answering the all important question: What is this report meant to do in the donor relationship? When engagement planning comes first, impact reporting becomes intentional, s

What do our top donors want from our organizations? Have you ever sat around wondering that? Have you ever asked one of these donors this exact question? Because I have, and what began as a way to learn more about our donors has become a lifelong pursuit of the best way to build strong, lasting relationships. I don’t want just donors to our organization; I want partners. I want them to be as invested in our organization as we are. And honestly, when I started, I wasn’t sure

Ask just about any gathering of nonprofit professionals and you’ll soon discover that nearly everyone is in one phase or another of a fundraising campaign. From planning to launching to sustaining momentum to wrapping, and if we’re lucky, evaluating and recovering––the lifecycle of modern campaigns seems almost endless as organizations move quickly from one set of priorities to the next. And this breathless pace can be especially challenging for donor relations teams, with r

You probably heard it in elementary school. Maybe from a cheerfully demanding teacher. Maybe from a framed poster in the library. Maybe etched on a lunchbox or repeated in a locker room. That little chant that sounds like a nursery rhyme but hits like a life lesson: Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is your better and your better is your best. At the time, it probably felt like a cute motivational rhyme. Something to recite before a spelling test or durin

There’s one donor engagement story I’ll never forget. It happened during my time working with a small performing arts nonprofit. I was the chair of the “worker bee board” and I don’t think I’ve ever worked more for less pay ($0, with an expected contribution). I truly enjoyed the work, but SHWEWW! I was also happy to complete my terms! The organization had never been officially branded as a gay men’s chorus, but it has always served a primarily LGBTQ+ audience. For many, it’s

No matter how carefully we plan, mistakes happen. When this happens, it can be tempting to panic, delay, or hope the situation quietly resolves itself. But silence is rarely the answer. In fact, silence often does more damage than the original mistake. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. The broken items are repaired with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. It symbolizes resilience, the beauty of imperfection, and embracing o

Let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate: your donors know when something’s wrong. They’re smart. They’re paying attention. And while they may not know every nuance of your fiscal year forecast or the backstory on your latest leadership shakeup, they know when things feel off. And do you know what breaks trust faster than bad news? Pretending there is no bad news. We’ve been trained—whether by cautious boards, cautious lawyers, or cautious culture—to avoid sharing

We’ve all been there (many of us are there right now). Budgets are tight, expectations are high, and yet donors still deserve to feel valued, inspired, and connected to the mission. This tension is especially true in nonprofits and higher education at the moment. Across the sector, we’re seeing budget cuts like we haven’t seen in years. Entire departments are asked to deliver the same level of programming and impact reporting, but with half the resources. At the very same tim

Imagine that you’ve just decided to take a road trip, so you plug your destination into Waze. It gives you two route options: Route A 🛣️ : Green lights and clear roads. Arrival Time: 2-3 Minutes Route B 🚧 : Riddled with potholes, traffic jams, detours, and construction zones. Arrival Time: 2-3(ish) Business Days Which route would you choose? Obviously, Route A—right? This is the exact scenario we present to donors when we ask them to give or renew their support. The destin

We say fundraising is funny, but today? I’m not laughing. This week, the nonprofit sector was jolted by a decision from GoFundMe that—if it had gone unchecked—could’ve threatened one of our most sacred responsibilities: our relationship with donors. If you’ve been around here a while, you know I don’t just talk about donor relations— I live it. Every keynote I give, every blog I write, every late-night brainstorm with my team stems from one simple belief: Donors aren’t data p