by Eddie Thompson | Nov 6, 2013 | Donor Communications
I love to fly, and I love relating to donors. Consequently, I can’t help but think about the two in the same context. Fundraising is a lot like piloting my Cirrus SR22 Turbo, and flying my Cirrus is a lot like fundraising. There is an aspect of every conversation with...
by Eddie Thompson | Oct 14, 2013 | Charitable Estate Planning, Development Management
There’s a correlation between the depth of relationship with a donor and the size of an appropriate appeal. When a fundraiser makes an appeal that a donor could not, or would not, seriously consider, the lack of understanding and the lack of relationship becomes a...
by Eddie Thompson | Sep 13, 2013 | Donor Communications
Two donor appointments early on in my career showed me then (and remind me now) how donor relations is a never-ending learning experience. With both experiences, I made some very wrong assumptions about what those two donors wanted and needed to hear. In retrospect,...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 20, 2013 | Donor Communications
I have spent my whole career working as a fundraiser. I never really thought about doing anything else, and my dad is the one responsible for that. In fact, every lesson about giving that really matters, I learned from him. It’s kind of a bittersweet story. By the...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 5, 2013 | Charitable Estate Planning, Donor Communications
In a previous blog I wrote about a process to help donors work their way through their three big gift planning questions: how much will they need for the remainder of their lives; how much should they give to their children; and, how much should they give to...
