September 30, 2019

In the olden days, when I was a CDO, we had 3000 3×5 cards. 1 card per donor/donor family. Typed the info onto the card. (Yes!! The days of electric typewriters.) One day, someone dropped 1 of the 3×5 card drawers. Approximately 1,000 cards all over the floor. Alphabetizing by hand.

(I still have an electric typewriter in my office. You never know when what etc.!)

Now we’re in the world of databases of all types. Donors. Fundraising. Ticketing. Advertising. Do you think the horse and cow farms have databases by horse/cow names?

Can you imagine a donor/fundraising database whose purpose is donor retention?! Remember, loyalty is the Holy Grail of any business. And thanks to Adrian Sargeant, fundraisers have research that defines how to build and measure donor loyalty.

Adrian’s research was built into a computer algorithm for donor software. Bloomerang. And check out Bloomerang’s free webinars and blogs and other resources.

If you want to keep your donors (retention first…then acquisition!!!), then check out more donor research.

Cool stuff!!!

 

 

 

 

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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