Treat your donors like family … and they will keep coming back.
By Susan Ross. I had 20 at my house for Christmas dinner. As always, the family meal marked the passage of time, with a core group of regulars bookended by loved ones missing and by promising new relationships.Why do we value these celebrations so much? It’s not my food, my decorations, or my presents. I’d say it is because people find joy in spending their time where they are welcome and where they would be missed if they didn’t show up.Perhaps our donors feel the same way.<strong>Donor retention is a hot button in fundraising these days,</strong> because new studies have shown that we are losing donors in far greater numbers than in the past. Has our preoccupation with major gifts led to a falloff in our rank-and-file donor feeling valued and needed? If so, how can development professionals stem [...]