Stewarding Donors, Board Members....And Staff

The small event went really well.  Afterward, the development director was able to connect with all the attendees and within 3 weeks had closed 2 nice size gifts.  He should have felt good about it all.  And he did but, as he told me, “I’ve seen my CEO five times since the event, and I’ve heard nothing about it.  Not a complaint or a compliment.  It’s very frustrating.”

There is so much talk about ensuring your donors feel your gratitude.  That’s good.  They should and they should know that their generosity matters.  We talk less about thanking your board for their service, but that is something we all should consider doing more often.  And staff, well feedback seems to focus on telling them what they’ve done wrong and evaluations seem to exist (when they exist) to highlight poor performance.  And yet, as my mother always said, you get so much more with honey than you do with vinegar.

Let’s start with that board.  If I had a dollar for every time an ED or a Development Director told me how their board just didn’t do what they needed them to do, I might decide to retire.  My go to response has always been to first ask if they—the ED or DD—were doing what their board needed them to do so the board could successfully fulfill their roles.  Typically, the answer to that is no.  But it goes further.

Too often, when the board does do something—anything—they get very little positive feedback.  No one says, “Thank you for doing that,” especially if it didn’t result in a cash gift.

If you are the ED or the DD, think about showing your gratitude for what the board does do, rather than complaining about what they don’t.  Start small.  Thanks for writing that note to our donor.  Thanks for checking in about something.  Thanks for your time, for your caring, for your being there at the last board meeting.  

Then think about specific things you can ask them to do.  Read and comment on an article you are considering putting in the newsletter; review a letter you’ve written to a a donor or a report you will be submitting to a funder.  Please help with this program, or that activity.  Something.  Anything.  Bring your board members closer and make sure they understand exactly what you do and, more importantly, what you accomplish. 

Then thank them again.  Do it publicly.  At the next board meeting say I want to thank Jo for helping us out….I have to acknowledge Fred for a tremendous job in….

You’ll find that soon you won’t have to scratch around for something to be thankful for.  They’ll be doing things themselves.

The same goes for your staff.  Too often when I was a manager, I focused on what my staff was not doing rather than zeroing in on what they were.  And because I was concentrating on the negative things, my comments to them were similarly negative.  It is no surprise that they, too, started focusing on the worst—and that was too often what they gave me. 

When I finally learned to be more positive, to appreciate all that they did do and to find the good as often as possible, I was rewarded with better results.  If only I had figured that sooner.

Giving positive feedback frequently results in positive behaviors.  Both with your board, your staff, and yes, your donors.