How to Design Donor Engagement Plans That Inspire Long-Term Partnership

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 how to do it. So, I did something crazy that made my poor leaders at the time cringe. I asked them! I asked our donors all the questions!

It was so revealing. I asked them why they gave.  I asked them what would make them continue this giving. I asked them how we could ensure our organization stayed in place as one of their charitable priorities.

What I learned was that donors want a connection. They want to move beyond a transactional relationship, and they want a personal connection with our organization(s). They want to be seen, known, and valued as someone committed to our mission(s).

Not surprisingly, I am not the only person curious about donors' motivations and values. Penelope Burke has conducted extensive research on donors to better understand them, and in 2003, she published Donor-Centered Fundraising, a book now recognized as an industry-standard guide to understanding donors. She found that donors wanted three things from the nonprofits they support – information, access, and engagement.

Information – donors want to know what their gift(s) did for our organization. What changed because they gave? Information builds confidence, and that is what our donors want and need to feel. Confident that their investment was used wisely and had the desired impact.

Access – our donors want access to our leaders and experts, and to see the mission in action. They want more than one-way communication – they want conversations and discussions. They want opportunities to see and understand how the organization works. Access builds trust.

Engagement – the more we can make our donors feel involved in not only our mission, but also where the organization is going in the future, and that the future is brighter because of them, the better. They want to know they are partners in our future and that that partnership matters. Engagement builds loyalty.

So when it came time for me to build my first engagement plan, I drew on my knowledge of my organization's donors, and combined it with Penelope Burk's amazing research to know where to begin. I had to get personal to build authentic relationships with my donors. I needed to tailor my communications, showcase the impact of their giving, and provide unique (to the donor) opportunities to involve them in our mission and organization.

Here is my step-by-step guide to building a donor engagement plan based on the research, and my nearly 40 years of practice in this industry:

1. Gather Data and Understand Motivations

Before creating the plan, do a deep dive into the information you already have on this donor. How do they give? Study their past giving behavior, frequency, and amounts. Find out more about their interests. What matters to them? What do they support? Which programs or specific initiatives resonate most with the donor? What are their likes and dislikes? Try to discover their motivations. Why do they give, and what changes do they want to see? Find out more about their story.

Once, I had a favorite donor who had started his career as a trucker and, over time, had built an amazing trucking company. When I asked him why he gave, he said: “I want students to have access to a great education.” I dug deeper and learned he did not go to college because he could not afford it. Our institution took him seriously when he said he wanted to make a large impact.

Others did not and looked down on him because he lacked an education and ran a trucking business. His answer told me he wanted to help young people, and to be respected as a business leader. Most of this information was in our database, but going a step further and asking the donor directly gave me the information I needed. 

2. Review Current Efforts

Now that you have a clear understanding of what makes a top donor tick, take a hard look at how you currently engage, communicate, and recognize this donor. What information do you currently send to this donor? Look at when it is sent, how it is sent and from whom. What events are they invited to each year? If you have a donor recognition society, is this person a member? How often are you reaching out to this donor, and who is doing the outreach? Does this donor get any reports? Are you sending birthday greetings, anniversary greetings, or any other milestone communications?

If you have a donor who gives to multiple areas of your organization, it is important to find out if those areas are also communicating with this donor, inviting them to events, or contacting them. It is critical to mark everything down—I suggest using an 18-month calendar. Once I see it all in one place I can begin identifying any holes in our strategy or if we are sending too much. I often encourage my colleagues to whiteboard all the engagement touchpoints, and once it is all mapped out, we can see where we are not being strategic.

I will never forget the day a donor walked into my office with a large box and dumped it on my desk. He then explained that this was all the mail (just mail) he received from our institution in the past month. I was shocked to see it, and since then I have always considered who, how, and what should be communicated to these top donors.

3. Identify the Strategy for this Donor

Now this is a step often forgotten when people are building engagement plans. We are not building plans just for the sake of having a plan. What we need to ask next is why we are building this plan and what action we want them to take next. Are we trying to get them more engaged? Did they make a campaign gift/pledge, and do we need to ensure it is properly stewarded? Do we need to share some new information with or introduce them to someone? Is there one gift or a lifetime of giving that we need to steward? Is this someone who will continue to give, and when should we ask them again? Do we know what we want to ask them to support next? Do we need to repair our relationship?

These are all very important questions to ask because the answers will help inform and drive the engagement plan. If we know our strategy with the donor, we can build a plan to move us in the direction we want to take this donor. 

4.  Develop Unique Engagement Moments

Design experiences that allow donors to connect directly with your mission. 

• Behind-the-Scenes Tours: Offer exclusive, tailored tours of your facility or project sites.

• Meet the Beneficiaries: Facilitate opportunities for donors to see the impact of their generosity firsthand by meeting the people or communities you serve.

• Involvement Opportunities: Invite them to join advisory councils, volunteer, or attend intimate, small-group events. 
  

This is where you show that you really know your donor. These moments must be curated for them and personalized just for them. This is where your creativity must come into play. What could your organization do for this donor that no one else can? What could you provide that this donor could not buy? What is special about the donor, and what is special about your organization?

Remember – even our top donors love to play and/or get their hands dirty. I remember a time I took some very high-profile donors on a tour of a tornado simulator they helped to fund. We asked one donor to step inside and hold on, and we let him feel what it was like to experience tornado-like winds. He came out of it with his hair all messed up and smiling from ear to ear. Everyone else on that tour wanted a turn inside the simulator as well. They loved the experience!

5.  Build the Engagement Plan 

Outline a consistent, multi-channel approach to keep your organization top-of-mind for the donor(s). As mentioned previously, I like to use an 18-month calendar so I can visually see what we are doing and when. Make certain you collaborate with everyone who has a relationship with the donor. That might include your program staff, leadership, board members, gift officers, and beneficiaries. The goal is to provide different perspectives and connection points.

These top donors will have multiple relationships with your organization, and the broader and deeper these engagements go, the better for your organization. Ensure everyone knows their role, the strategy they are expected to follow, and when. And one person must be identified as the coach or ringleader, and it is that person's responsibility to ensure the plan is executed as outlined. DRG Tip: Be sure to review and adapt the plan regularly. Donor relationships are not static, so your plan can’t be either. Check in with team members and gather feedback to refine strategies.

6. Track Progress

Define what success looks like for your plan. You know your strategy for this donor, so be certain to track your progress toward this goal.

Metrics you can track include:

• Quality of interactions

• Donor responsiveness

• Relationship depth

• Retention and consistency

• Readiness for next steps

• Events attended

• Changes in giving patterns
  

When you bring these steps together, you create a simple, but powerful roadmap for building intentional, personalized donor engagement. By taking the time to learn what motivates your top donors, clarifying your strategy, and thoughtfully designing meaningful experiences, you put yourself in a position to craft an engagement plan that is focused, flexible, and rooted in authentic relationship-building—one that moves donors from supporters to true partners in your mission.

Our top donors—don’t just write big checks and disappear. They want meaningful engagement, clear impact, and relationships that feel authentic. A strong top-donor engagement plan is intentional, human, and disciplined. It is not “more touches”—it’s the right touches, at the right moments, by the right people, all anchored to purpose, strategy, and impact.

Written by Angie Joens