Donors Are People Too: Managing Relationships With Your Organization's Major Contributors

It's very clear: Nonprofit organizations need major donors. In his nearly four decades of helping nonprofit organizations raise funds to accomplish their missions, author, Timothy Smith witnessed a clear pattern. The vast majority of donors giving to organizations participate through "mass media," meaning the mail, the telephone, or the Internet. No charity in the world has enough staff members to sit down with every donor personally and form a personal relationship. But over time, we see certain donors emerge as major players. They give more than the average individual, signaling their higher level of interest in the cause, and signaling their interest in a closer relationship with the nonprofit organization. How should the organization respond to these major donors? Timothy Smith has the answers to this question and many others. He has shown us that a healthy nonprofit organization will invest itself in all of its donors to the full extent of the organization's capacity. With unlimited resources, the organization could treat every donor like a major donor. But with limited resources, the organization must invest in each donor according to the donor's expressed level of interest in the mission of the organization. This is simply good, practical management. In the pages of Donors Are People Too, Timothy offers wise and proven insights into the care and keeping of major donors. He did not spring from the earth fully formed; he has learned a lot "the hard way." One of his best qualities is his willingness to confront his own failures and learn from them, to reveal his experiences and share wisdom through them. His candor is refreshing, and his insights are valuable.