The Impact of Donor Relations in Fundraising

Association of Donor Relations Professionals 
Growth in Giving Initiative/Fundraising Effectiveness Project 

Cheryl Lintner
Executive Director of Donor Relations
Meridian Health Foundation

Last year, the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP) partnered with The Growth in Giving Initiative and the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (GiG/FEP) to explore the impact of donor relations on fundraising outputs. We wanted to answer the question of how donor relations affects fundraising’s bottom line, and what follows is how GiG/FEP helped us frame it. While there is some great information to be shared, there are also many more questions we can ask. We have only just scratched the surface of possibilities!

To conduct the study, the GiG/FEP surveyed ADRP member organizations and identified four institutions with longitudinal donor histories that grew and coincided with the initial hiring (and/or increased hiring) of focused donor relations professionals. These case studies are presented in the attached white papers, and we invite you to explore them. While each of the case studies offers insight into how their investment in donor relations affected their fundraising revenue, the changes made at the University of Georgia clearly stood out:

“When investments are made in the development efforts of an organization, increases in fundraising success are bound to happen. In our case studies, we saw many examples of growth in the front line fundraising teams, as well as other investments in donor relations as having a positive effect on fundraising. What the University of Georgia is able to demonstrate is that growth in the activities of the donor relations team in particular has had significant impact on retaining their donors. At 83%, their retention rate is far above the national average retention rate of just 46%! It is clear that UGA is doing some incredible work in donor relations and donor retention. While the activities of the donor relations team are not the sole cause in achieving such incredible fundraising results, they are certainly a contributing factor.” 

ADRP is excited to share the results of this project with our membership. The GiG/FEP study was not intended to be scientifically rigorous, but was instead designed to identify high performing donor relations departments in the hopes of beginning to show the connection and value of donor relations department investments and fundraising outputs.

Why Is This Project Important?

Donor relations research is still very much in its infancy. There are few studies that address how donor relations impacts fundraising. How do we demonstrate our value to the field at large? It’s not an easy question to answer, which makes it all the more important that we continue to try to do so. That’s why the ADRP Board of Directors is establishing a new ADRP Research Program. Our goals are ambitious:

• Provide members with access to innovative, evidence-based approaches to donor relations that can be adapted into their own shops.
• Provide members with resources to demonstrate the value of donor relations within fundraising at large with diverse, peer-reviewed research.
• Elevate ADRP’s reputation as a thought leader in the philanthropic sector.

The partnership with GiG/FEP is only the beginning. We are excited to take this journey and invite you to join in the discussion. If you are interested in joining the new ADRP Research Committee, please contact [email protected].

Attachments/Links:

• University of Georgia
• University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Office of Advancement
  
• Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
• CAMH Foundation