Ken Burnett - The Zen of Fundraising: 89 Timeless Ideas to Strengthen and Develop Your Donor Relationships

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Table of Contents

Other Books by Ken Burnett

Advertising by Charities
(London: Directory of Social Change, 1984)

Charity Annual Reports
(London: Directory of Social Change, 1986)

Relationship Fundraising
(Kermarquer, France: White Lion Press, 1992)

Friends for Life
Kermarquer, France: White Lion Press, 1996)

How to Produce Inspiring Annual Reports
(with Karin Weatherup and the Burnett Works Company)
(London: Directory of Social Change, 2000)

Relationship Fundraising (2nd ed.)
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002)

Tiny Essentials of an Effective Volunteer Board
(Kermarquer, France: White Lion Press, 2006)

INTRODUCTION

All You Really Need to Know About Donor Relationship Development

Theres no big secret to the art and science of developing mutually rewarding relationships with donors. In essence its all pretty much common sense. But the trouble with common sense is that too often its not common at all. We all know that more than most commercial enterprises, nonprofit organizations will thrive only if their customers feel good about doing business with them, if their donors and other key supporters are comfortable about how they relate to the nonprofits programs, systems, style, and people. Yet many nonprofits are embarrassingly poor at how they treat, interact with, and relate to their customersdonors and volunteers. As a result they fail to raise a lot of money that could be theirs quite easily and at little cost. Equally important, they fail to inspire and motivate many volunteers and potential supporters.

But if donor relationship development is largely a matter of common sense, experience has shown that to do it well, some things are essential, some things are important, and other things are worth knowing and worth remembering from time to time. There may be hundreds of useful nuggets of information, but Ive selected from my experience just eighty-nine, because thats a nice convenient number and because in this book I want to concentrate solely on whats essential, rather than whats merely worth saying, or more important from your viewpoint, whats merely worth listening to. This is the first example in this book of something I call the 90-degree shift, which I will introduce to you properly if you read on.

I can hold forth for hours, even days, perhaps months, on the endlessly fascinating subject of fundraising from donors. If I did, and if in listening to me you were to be exceptionally alert, utterly precise, and very thorough (assuming you managed to pay attention throughout), by the end of it you mightif youre really goodhave made around eighty-nine separate notes summing up the most important stuff. Thats what I have put into this book. The purpose of this collection is to present and describe only the things that matter most in donor relationship development, with a minimum of nonsense, bull, padding, and waffle. Please let me know whether or not you think Ive succeeded.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes Zen as a form of Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition. Zen has come to mean thoughtful wisdom and insights. I have called this book The Zen of Fundraising because I hope the eighty-nine nuggets of information presented here offer you enlightenment. Some meditation upon them, backed by your intuition, should tell you if theyre sound or otherwise.

In addition, sprinkled among these nuggets, youll find thirty pieces of whats known as twenty-first-century Zen. These sayings are deliberate diversions, mere light relief, random thoughts to break up a succession of serious points. They shouldnt be taken too seriously. But while I hope youll find them interesting and amusing, wise readers may discern among them some more profound meanings that are worth pondering.

Throughout this book I tend to use the phrases donor relationship development and relationship fundraising as if they were synonymous with fundraising as a whole. That shouldnt be taken as a sign that I dismiss or denigrate other forms of fundraising that do not involve or benefit from developing some sort of relationship with a donor. Its just that Im not involved in or very interested in those forms of fundraising. And I firmly believe that if nonprofit organizations are to come close to achieving their full potential, fundraisers have to get very much better at harnessing and developing the interest, involvement, and commitment of their donors. For me, there is no valid other way. Vast potential, I am sure, will be ours if we do.

You should be aware at the outset, however, that donor relationship development is not a soft option, not something behind which you can hide a lack of fundraising success. Donor development doesnt amount to a hill of beans unless it leads to more funds raised in the long term. If it doesnt help nonprofits raise more money, its not worth doing. Im sure it does. In fact today the argument whether it does or not is redundant. It does. This book shows how.

The truth is, donor development is all about raising more money. It differs from the hard-sell school of fundraising in that it recognizes that because giving is voluntary, raising the maximum funds calls for rare, complex, and diverse skills and abilities, such as patience, understanding, judgment, and real commitment. Donor development is a precision tool that takes us right to the hearts of our donors, not a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon them.

Thats why, although I was originally planning to call this book Zen and the Art of Donor Development, I readily agreed when my editor at Jossey-Bass proposed instead that we call it The Zen of Fundraising. For me, fundraising is donor development.

But theres almost nothing in this book about fundraising technique. Rather, this book concentrates on approach. It is not a how-to book, rather a book about why and why not. Im also leaving it to others in other places to provide the empirical, statistical analysis that shows just how well relationship fundraising works. If you are still an unbeliever I recommend that you see my 1996 book, Friends for Life: Relationship Fundraising in Practice, or read Penelope Burks Donor-Centered Fundraising.

The Zen of Fundraising opens with a summary of some of the universal problems (challenges, opportunities, or what you will) that confront fundraisers everywhere these days. As an antidote, this is followed by a list of actions Id prioritize were I to find myself head of donor development in a progressive nonprofit. The book then describes some of the essential attitudes that all fundraisers need if they are to maximize the potential offered by their donors. The basic foundations of effective fundraising are described in detail, followed by, in turn, the keys to effectively communicating with donors, the important things to think of when relating to donors, plus the characteristics that distinguish a successful relationship fundraiser. The book ends with a look ahead to what will be important for fundraisers in the very near future.

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