All the right moves

Originally published Oct. 2013
In the philanthropy profession, we often talk about the notion of “moves management” regarding our donors and volunteers. But donors are people too, and no one likes to be managed.

Just how do we make all the right moves? I'll tell you a little story.  Because so many of our donors come in through direct mail – and some give quite generously – we’ve lacked a personal connection. So I regularly invite donors in to tour our facilities, to see the impact of their giving.

Jim and Kate* came by for a tour – which was very educational for them, since they thought the food bank was a neighborhood food pantry, and had no real idea of the extent and reach of our work feeding the hungry. A week later they sent a nice five-figure check – a sizeable increase over their historic giving.

Kate became further involved, bringing her college-age daughter to volunteer at a mobile pantry site. Now, these are the “women of Fairfield County,” and did not have a lot of exposure to urban blight and poverty. “What an eye-opening experience! Thank you for including us,” she told me later.

After Kate had been volunteering at our warehouse for a few months, she came into my office one day and said, “I’d like to host a fundraiser cocktail party to benefit the Food Bank. Would that be alright?” After a year of unsuccessfully trying to recruit an event host, I thought I was going to levitate. The event raised over $10,000, introduced two dozen new affluent donors to the Food Bank, and one of the guests asked if she, too, could host an event.

Bottom line: When we don't push, allow our donors to move at their pace, we are making all the right moves.

* Names have been changed.