Fundraising = Partnership = Relationship

True, fundraising is about the tactics.  It’s about the work and the calculations and the emails and the social media and mail pieces.  

But it’s mostly about the relationship.  If you don’t have that, the tactics hardly matter. 

We look at it like a triangle, not a linear approach.  If you approach your donors in a linear way, you put yourself in between the donor and the impact you have.  That leaves your donor only seeing and hearing your perspective, rather than seeing impact for themselves.

But if you approach fundraising like a triangle, putting the impact at the top and you and your donor as the two bottom corners, you connect your donor right to the impact.

This is the picture in your mind’s eye that you should have when approaching a donor.  We ca talk about all of the tactics - and our blog is full of ideas - but this approach is fundamental.  Even for work that they will never physically touch, your donor can have a direct connection to the impact. 

Take some time to diagnose your relationship with your donors, who are truly partners in your work. Is everything your partners experience related to what you’ve done?  Are you in the way? Or are you allowing your partners to experience the impact even if they will never touch it physically? 

With this approach, you’ll engage differently.  Your communications will become more personal. You’ll make larger asks with a shared, not a “I hope they understand it” approach.  You’ll see your impact grow because it will be fueled by truly engaged and committed co-owners, rather than passive donors.