This blog focuses on two ideas: "What can a Philanthropic Advisor do for you?" and the concept of "Ask Better | Give Smarter."
I want to direct my readers today over to a blog called 101Fundraising where one of my Canadian colleagues, Kimberley Mackenzie, has posted an excellent article, "Connecting with your Most Loyal and Senior Donors." She does a very good job of showing what a smart advisor in philanthropy can do for your charity and gets at the idea behind why relationships are key to asking better and giving smarter.
Ask Better?
Kimberly's post is very well-researched and she's a great example of the type of thinking and inquiry that charities should be expecting from their fundraising leaders. There are a lot of questions in the sector about "how much money have you raised?" "how much money will you raise this year?" - both of which relate back to how do we measure performance in a quantifyable way for planned giving programs? The level of perceptiveness from Kimberley in working to innovate and build a program that works for her charity is what makes her a diamond in the rough - let's start focusing on those qualities and achievements when we evaluate our fundraising staff.
Give Smarter?
If you are reading this as a donor to charity, I ask you to reflect on the efforts Kimberley has made to honor the dignity of each of her supporters. To honor the value of their relationship to her charity as legacy and potential legacy donors. Sometimes fundraising gets a "bad rap" - please know that there are professionals out there like Kimberley who are doing wonderful work. This is what you should expect. This is what you should be helping your favourite charities to create.
You can find Kimberley Mackenzie at http://kimberleymackenzie.ca/
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