We are all confronted with two seemingly opposing forces with our fundraising efforts.  Building a relationship with our donor should always be front and center for us. We know that without a “relationship” with our supporter no “relationship” will continue – it will simply die because there is no compelling reason for it to continue.

The relationship demands an exchange of affinity, viewpoint, collaboration, advocacy, and so forth. The conundrum we face though is the inescapable fact that we need an interchange – a series of “transactions” to take place in order to establish and maintain the relationship. These transactions may take the form of the nonprofit sending a direct mail package or email to the supporter; or the transaction might entail the supporter making a donation or even volunteering in an effort to show support.

So, it appears as though a relationship cannot exist without a transaction of sorts. This puts us in the awkward space of needing to make transactions between the two parties (the nonprofit and the supporter) compelling, focused, and meaningful. It must be a two way street that both benefit from and both walk away fulfilled on some level.

The relationship must come first since it is clearly the more important aspect – without a relationship there will be no transaction – but I guess the opposite is true too. Regardless, the bottom-line is that one cannot exist without the other so we must focus our energy on establishing and providing opportunities for our supporters to relate to us through transactions that reinforce their passion for the organization and help build enduring relationships.

This means, to me anyway, that the focus shouldn’t be “give me more money because…” or “thank you for your support, but we still have this need, please help us by…” or “we did this and we did that…” – no we must move way, way beyond simply raising money, reporting on all our great accomplishments and highlighting all the good work that WE do – the focus has to be re-directed back to the donor by shining the spotlight on them. Make them the hero; let them know your charity couldn’t live without them; let them know your deep, deep gratitude for having chosen your organization to support.

If we do this we will develop great relationships that lead to long-term, fruitful relationships!!

It occurred to me recently that most nonprofits have really missed the boat in terms of customer (donor) service.

Many retailers and service organizations believe the “customer is always right“ but very few companies actually practice what they preach. Exemplary customer service, like one might receive at a Nordstrom store for instance, is incredibly elusive because it costs money, takes lots of training, and most of all, it takes commitment on the part of leadership and the employees. But until a company actually believes that good, or shall we say great, customer service leads to increased revenue (essentially a positive return on their investment) it will probably never be taken seriously enough to become a central focus of the customer experience.

And so it goes with nonprofits too. Nonprofits talk a lot about donor cultivation, building relationships, and encouraging advocacy – but can you honestly name one nonprofit organization that has done this incredibly well? One that you are truly “connected” with and would open your wallet, heart and mind too? My guess is that no organization comes to mind.

The challenge is that for many nonprofit organizations the relationship has become transactional and not relational. Somehow in the midst of hyped CRM initiatives, one-to-one marketing concepts, and complex database marketing techniques we have lost the sense of individualism, plus we have forgotten how to address our supporters specific needs, wants and hopes rather than simply smothering them with our one sided messages.

As the demographics of the population shift and our culture begins to view nonprofits in a new light, greater emphasis must be placed on the person and not simply their wallet. We have to become their friend and advocate. Can we ever expect our supporters to open their heart, mind and wallet if we don’t take relationship building seriously?The answer is we can’t.

The new methods for reaching and connecting with donors, supporters, constituencies will center on the person as an individual. This is easier said then done; and many of us already believed we were doing just that with personalized direct mail packages, allowing them to opt in/out of promotions, inviting them to be a member of a “club”, and so on. The reality is these are simply marketing tactics that have a limited effect on building authentic and enduring relationships that benefit both the nonprofit and the supporter.

Welcome to the Oculus Direct blog. This is a central place where people involved in nonprofit management can meet and share opinions and ideas about how to face an increasingly complex marketplace.