Basics of Donor
Relations
Your Map to an Effective
Donor Relations Program
Effective Donor
Relations
CASE District IV
Conference
Ft. Worth, Texas
March 24, 2013
Cynthia Uviedo
Donor Relations Officer
Trinity University
Overview/Road Map
 What
is Donor Relations and why is it
important
 Assessing your organization’s DR activities
 Getting started
 Ideas and Samples
Q&A
Donor Relations
The comprehensive effort of any nonprofit that seeks
philanthropic support to ensure that donors
experience high-quality interactions with the
organization that foster long-term engagement and
investment. This effort is commonly thought to have
four elements:




Gift acceptance and management
Acknowledgment
Donor recognition
Reporting
Source: Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP.net)
Stewardship
Reporting element is commonly referred to as stewardship.
Historically, defined as the safeguarding of the assets of
others.
Activities associated with stewardship are focused on
ensuring that the funds provided by donors are utilized in
the way intended as conveyed in gift agreements and
fund terms.
By this definition, stewardship is a function inherently internal
to an organization, rather than a donor-facing, external
function.
Source: Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP.net)
Stewardship
Noun
1. a process whereby an organization seeks to
be worthy of continued philanthropic support,
including the acknowledgment of gifts, donor
recognition, the honoring of donor intent,
prudent investment of gifts, and the effective
and efficient use of funds to further the mission
of the organization
2. the position or work of a steward
Source: AFP Fundraising Directory, www.afpnet.org
Fundraising Cycle
Identify
Steward
Cultivate
Solicit
Donor Relations Cycle
Donor Makes
Contribution
Ask Again
Account
Acknowledge
Appreciate
Janet L. Hedrick, "Effective Donor Relations"
Why is Donor Relations
Important?
 Cost
of acquiring new donors
 Why do donors stop supporting your
organization
Assess Where You Are
Assess Where You Are
Start Behind the Scenes
Gift Acceptance and Management




Policies and procedures
Process for review of gifts – can we do what the donor wants
us to do?
Structure for giving opportunities
Process for tracking gifts as they are expended
Assess Where You Are
Start Behind the Scenes
Acknowledgement



Private communication
Accurate, timely, and meaningful expressions of gratitude
Includes receipting and personalized, written
correspondence
Assess Where You Are
Start Behind the Scenes
Donor Recognition




Giving societies, Honor Rolls
Donor walls, named space signage
Internal and external publicity
Donor recognition events, engagement opportunities
Assess Where You Are
Start Behind the Scenes
Reporting




Stewardship
What is the impact of the donor’s gift on the mission of your
organization
Qualitative
Quantitative
Getting Started on the
Donor Relations Road
Gift Acceptance and
Management
 MOU/Gift






Agreement templates
Who’s authorize to sign
Include Business Office, Fiscal Affairs
How are donor’s intent tracked
Who is tracking
Important – information feeds into reporting
Review
Acknowledgement
 Top-level
acknowledgements/thank you
letters from President, Chancellor, Dean,
Headmaster, Board members
 From someone benefitting from the gift
 Student
 Faculty
 Parent
member
Sample of
student
thank you
letter
Donor Recognition
 Process
of expressing gratitude for a
contribution in a public way





Signage
Named opportunities
Special presentation
Appreciation events
Gifts
Donor Recognition
Signage/Named Opportunities
Scholarship Events





Seated dinner for endowed scholarship donors
Reception for annual fund donors
Photo with donors
Student speaker; donor/Board speaker
Keep program short; time to interact with students
Appreciation
Events
Special
Presentation
Appreciation Events
 Heritage
Society
Luncheon
 Special events for
large donors
 Thank-a-thon
Gifts
Publicity
 Articles
in your alumni magazine, website,
e-newsletter
 For transformational gifts, news releases to
the media
 Recognition among their peers


Events
Special publications for giving societies
Recognition Caveats
 Donor
Honor Roll debate
 Know your donors and their expectations
 Recognition Preferences:





Expectants
Moderates
Frugal
Secretive
Anonymous – clarify what it means
to each donor
Laura Fredricks, “Developing Major Gifts:
Turning Small Donors into Big Contributors”
Reporting
 Stewardship/Endowment





Reports
Principal
Market Value of Endowment
Gifts received
Distributions from endowment
How funds were used
 Scholarships
- name and information on
scholarship recipient
 Professorships/faculty support – activity summary
of faculty member
 Lectures/programs – summary of events
supported
Sample Endowment Report
Sample Endowment Report
Reporting
 Annual
Reports
 Reports on unrestricted gifts

Show overall impact on your organization
 **Communication


is key!
Reconnecting with donors on a regular basis
Reminding them about what their gift is doing
Beware of DR pitfalls
 If
implementing a program with existing
staff, be reasonable about expectations.
Start with one new project per year to see
how it impacts other work.
 If starting with someone dedicated to DR
only, don’t dump all the “extra stuff” on
them. Discuss with the Development
team about what it the expectation for
this person. Caution with special events!
Questions?
Donor Relations Resources
 Association
of Donor Relations
Professionals ADRP.net
 Donor Relations Guru – Lynne Wester
donorrelationsguru.com
 Effective Donor Relations by Janet
Hedrick (AFP Nonprofit Essentials series)
Cynthia Uviedo
Trinity University
cuviedo@trinity.edu
210-999-8075