The Relationship Fundraising journey: where are we now?
Relationship Fundraising is deeply embedded into the fundraising profession’s lexicon. To say that relationships are fundamental to an ongoing connection with supporters is no longer radical, and the development of relationships is usually a core tenet of fundraising strategy.
But as with any evolving practice, to know and understand how to make best use of it we must understand how we got here – and where we should be going next.
The Relationship Fundraising journey
Relationship Fundraising is not static; it’s been through many permutations since Ken Burnett’s critical insight back in the early 1990s that donors might want or need a relationship with the causes and organizations they cared about (1). This was Relationship Fundraising 1.0, which talked of building friends for life (2) and offered ground-breaking advice on how that might be accomplished. Relationship fundraising was positioned as the right thing to do for its own sake.
It was respectful of donor needs and their experience of giving. It also turned out it was financially sound, because a focus on relationships raises more money. Although marketing theorists were already writing about the need for relationship marketing, Ken’s thought process was original and driven by a passion for how we should behave around our friends. As the sector reflected on the insight, terms such as donor centric and donor-centricity began to emerge and creep into the fundraising lexicon. A new way of thinking about fundraising was given life.
The early 2000s saw the advent of Relationship Fundraising 2.0. This was rooted in relationship marketing drawing from the commercial sector, and helped us define what a relationship is and the components that should be tracked and actively managed. Fundamentally, Relationship Fundraising 2.0 encouraged us to look at satisfaction, trust and commitment as measures of relationships, and over time some organisations began branch out from assessing the quality of their fundraising against purely financial metrics, instead incorporating assessment against these measures.
Where are we now?
Everything that has brought us to where are now is important, but there is space – and a need – for something different. Borrowing from the commercial world means that the measures we focus on are those related to profitability. While at the time that was a major leap forward because it gave rise to lifetime value thinking, it is no longer state of the art. Relationships are about more than just money.
At the Institute, we practice Relationship Fundraising 3.0 – a new iteration of the form that focuses on how we make donors feel. It understands that donors need to feel good about who they are when they give. It also understands that donors must be seen as more than just donors.
This sits in contrast to Relationship Fundraising 2.0, where donors are an asset whose value must be maximised. Relationship Fundraising 3.0 wants to dedicate time and effort to understanding who supporters are, then serving their needs. Communications should drip with the identities of supporters and nurture them in a way that contributes meaningfully to their sense of who they are and who they are when they love others.
At its heart, Relationship Fundraising 3.0 focuses not just on who people are as donors, but who they are as people. Why is this important? Because when we understand who our donors are, we can create communications which celebrate them. We can develop relationships that are meaningful – in which giving is mutually beneficial. And we can create a connection which goes beyond the transaction, and genuinely nurtures and develops the human capacity to love others.
Find out more about how the Institute can help you better understand and engage with donors, and who they are as people.
References
Burnett K (2002) Relationship Fundraising: A Donor-Based Approach to the Business of Raising Money, Jossey Bass.
Burnett K (1996) Friends for Life: Relationship Fundraising in Practice, White Lion Press.