| THE GARDEN OF GIVING TAKES TENDING - Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association I really enjoyed those tomatoes, squash, okra, peppers and melons from my garden last year. I managed to keep the groundhogs and rabbits out, and had fresh vegetables all summer. There’s nothing growing there now in the bleak midwinter, of course, but when June rolls around I’ll go out and start picking. The garden came through for me in 2013, and I’m sure it will do so again this year. Meanwhile, I don’t really need to do anything. THE GARDEN OF GIVING TAKES TENDING I really enjoyed those tomatoes, squash, okra, peppers and melons from my garden last year. I managed to keep the groundhogs and rabbits out, and had fresh vegetables all summer. There’s nothing growing there now in the bleak midwinter, of course, but when June rolls around I’ll go out and start picking. The garden came through for me in 2013, and I’m sure it will do so again this year. Meanwhile, I don’t really need to do anything. Uh, no. Actually I have to prepare the soil (compost is doing its thing right now), plant the seeds this spring, water and weed the little patch, and check the fence often for holes and tunnels if I want those vegetables again. That’s kind of the way it is in the Garden of Giving that’s so important to nonprofits, and the point was expressed well in a recent blog post by St. Louis nonprofit professional and consultant Amy Stephan: “How you treat a prospective donor and how you build that relationship is what will determine whether they give you a gift. The tactic for soliciting a donor matters, of course, but most people know what they are going to give you before you ever sit down for the ask. The way you steward that donor after the gift will determine whether you get a second gift and how large of a gift you might receive. Solicitations are about sales. You will only get so far in this business if that is how you approach all of your donors. Fundraising is about relationships. Build them, nurture them, make them important, and the solicitation will be the easy part.” (Amy’s blog is at http://amystephan.wordpress.com.) She’s right. Focusing attention on the solicitation message at the expense of tending that Garden of Giving between solicitations – letting your supporters know about the great work you’re doing -- is a risk, and could be a costly one. For tips on how to make sure those messages get across, you might want to see the Spring 2012 and Winter 2013 issues of our quarterly publication, VIS Connections. Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association To learn more about our AL!VE Partner CIMA Gateway for AL!VE members – www.cimaworld.com/alive Published: 02/17/14 |