Educate your staff that their knowledge about the charity’s donors is key to building lasting relationships
We call them “donors,” and donor support is a big part of a charity’s bread and butter.
A charity’s success also depends on what it knows about its donors. Staff members depend on the accuracy and accessibility of that information in order to function effectively. But what happens when that donor information is unavailable?
We know the scenarios:
- someone kept handwritten notes, or maybe no notes were kept at all
- information is stored in someone’s grey matter with tidbits written down “somewhere”
- staff keep their own private spreadsheet(s)
Over the course of many years, conversations and interactions will have taken place with donors. The question becomes, was this valuable information retained in a useful form for future use? Is the charity even aware that the information is missing or that it ever existed?
Why recording and managing interactions with donors matters
We believe donors are collaborators who support a charity for individual/personal reasons, and in a variety of ways. When a charity asks for (or recognizes) only cash donations, the donor can easily withdraw their support. A charity’s goal is to maintain its donors, but how is that done?
Donors can stay with a charity for many years, despite changes in fundraisers and staff. Imagine going to your doctor’s office for a check-up, to find a new physician in his/her place. This doctor will know little (or nothing!) about your past visits or health. Wouldn’t it make you feel more confident and comfortable if that new physician was already aware of your preferences and the reason for your last visit?
How does a charity address knowledge gaps? A good starting point is a policy that holds staff accountable for information retention and management. Educate your staff that their knowledge about the charity’s donors is key to building lasting relationships that support not only the donor’s interest in your charity, but the charity itself.
Where will information on these touchpoints, conversations, and in-person interactions be recorded? A good donor management system links information to each donor’s file, and enables all users to access this critical information instantaneously as needed.
I am reminded of the story of a new account manager for a high-profile charity attending their first meeting with a high-profile donor. They are anxious to make a good impression. Since, the charity is about to host one of its flagship events, the staff member asks whether the donor is planning to attend. “Well, we always attend,” was the response. Next, the staff member asks whether the donor, a well-known business owner, has considered becoming a sponsor? “We have sponsored the event for years,” was the reply. What did this exchange tell the donor, and how did this impact their impression of the charity and its staff?
Charities need to establish methods and policies to protect itself from these and other management errors. Staff come and go, while the charity must continue.
In summary, it’s important that donor information is recorded and protected from loss. Donors are a charity’s collaborators and, like all of us, they like to be remembered beyond the dollars they have gifted. Which brings us to a final point about data entry audit trails and backup.
- Where does the charity backup its data?
- How frequently is the backup completed?
- Is the backup grandfathered? In other words, does each new backup overlay the previous one or is there sequencing to prevent corrupt data overlaying good?
Looking after the charity’s bread and butter issues are of key importance and cannot be left to chance. Good management of this asset starts at the top with policies, procedures and accountability for all.
Sharron Batsch BSc is the developer of @EASE Fund Development Software and the author of “From Chaos to Control – Build a High Performance Team Using Knowledge Management” Contact her, sharron@batschgroup.com.
