The Annual Giving Exchange

Communities are built on relationships.  Nonprofits typically understand this and know that philanthropy can be a barometer to help them measure the strength of their relationships and the sustainability of their communities.

This is why asking for money should be simple.  Like harvesting a crop after years of cultivating soil and planting seeds in the right season, a gift solicitation should be thought of as one stage in a long-term relationship with a donor.  This cycle starts with identification and evolves through engagement, understanding, solicitation, and stewardship.  No one stage of the cycle is any more important than another.

Annual giving has a cycle too, one that exists in perpetuity.  Reed College in Portland, Oregon does a nice job of reminding its donors about this cycle.  Click here to see the token of appreciation they sent to more than 5,600 alumni, parents, and friends who made a gift in FY09.  Shared through a link contained in an e-mail, this simple and inexpensive gift not only tells donors that their support is appreciated but reminds them that one annual fund cycle has closed and a new one has begun.