Sara Moïse
Tulane University
Senior Director of Donor Relations

One of the most prevalent struggles I hear across education-based donor relations professionals is getting scholarship recipients to submit content for stewardship reports. I also spend a lot of my time thinking about JEDI. (Yes, my husband is a mega Star Wars nerd, but I mean Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.) These two topics cross lightsabers in my mind with high frequency… and I think there’s A New Hope for the future.

As we work toward equity and inclusivity, I find myself examining the power dynamic between scholarship donors and recipients, who should express gratitude to donors, and what best serves our donors and students (i.e., our future donors!) in the long term.

At my institution, we don’t require gratitude from scholarship recipients. We strongly encourage it—with repeated, months-long reminders that are laborious and ineffective. Even in-person events often fail to generate content as the Jedis-in-training are focused more on free food and swag.

1. Network with colleagues all over the world.
2. Get the inside scoop on ADRP activities before everyone else does.
3. Make a difference: Is there something you’d like to improve about ADRP?
4. Join a committee and make the change yourself!
5. Work and learn alongside donor relations veterans.
6. Make friends.
7. Learn new skills such as event planning, project management, communications, and presenting.
8. Gain professional experience that you can add to your resume.
9. Have a platform to share your ideas and expertise.
10. Broaden your perspective.
11. Have fun! 

Carrie Flood
Dalhousie University  
Director, Donor Relations

Corey Smentek
MIT
Director, Donor Relations & Stewardship

Carrie and Corey currently lead ADRPs marketing and communications committee.

Cheryl Smith Lintner

Executive Director, Donor Relations

Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation

It’s kind of hard to shout out an enthusiastic message in a static written column. Stage directions might help.

Cheryl enters from stage right with a bullhorn. She taps it, and whispers “Is this thing on?” Then, she shouts:

Jennifer Hughes
National Park Foundation
Senior Manager, Board and Council Relations

Volunteers are special people. They offer your organization a diverse skill set and bring incredible abilities to help deliver on your organization’s greatest needs. Volunteers make a difference by recognizing no task is too small or insignificant. Each volunteer is a tiny piece of the puzzle with a large purpose in making change and creating opportunities throughout the world. One of my favorite quotes comes from Mother Teresa: “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

I spent the last seven years in a donor relations role. I had the great honor to be able to communicate the impact and importance that philanthropy has on our national parks as part of our stewardship events team. Last year, I transitioned over to a new role in governance and working directly to manage our Board of Directors and National Advisory Council, some of our organization’s biggest supporters and ultimately, volunteers. Being able to think of creative ways to thank them for their volunteer leadership and philanthropy is a rewarding aspect of stepping into this new capacity for me. Sometimes we get caught up in the details of our roles without appreciating the broader ways that our daily efforts help meet the organization’s mission.

This is a friendly reminder that they are not just volunteers. They’re not just planting trees. They’re not just serving a bowl of soup. They’re not just planning the next ADRP International Conference. We know that our volunteers’ impact far exceeds the action that is taken in our communities, and we should continuously thank our volunteers for their commitment and talents. I encourage you to send a note of kudos to your volunteers and show your appreciation for all of their heart work and dedication to help build upon your mission today.

Karen J. Hamilton

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship

Background Info
 

Can you tell us about your career trajectory? How did you come into donor relations as a career?

Cheryl Smith Lintner

Executive Director, Donor Relations

Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation

Have you heard of the Swedish tradition, fika? According to Google’s Oxford Languages dictionary, fika is defined as “a break from activity during which people drink coffee, eat cakes or other light snacks, and relax with others.” I first heard about this custom in 2020 in the midst of a flurry of idea-sharing about how to manage remote teams and keep in touch with friends during the pandemic. And I thought, wow, you had me at coffee. But also the “break” and “relax with others” parts were appealing. I started holding virtual fikas first with friends, then with colleagues, and now with my team. Every other Friday, we log on to Zoom for a Friday afternoon fika. No work talk. Just coffee (or tea), a little BYOS (bring your own snacks), and a chat. It’s been a great way to unwind, vent, and celebrate - to be among people who share common interests and genuinely want to get to know each other better. 

And that, my friends, is the essence of ADRP. We are a group of like-minded people who share a common interest and want to get to know each other better. So I encourage all of you to start your own little fika. Have you been exchanging messages with someone on MyADRP and want to talk face-to-face? Did you meet an awesome fellow newcomer at an event last year? Are you looking to pull together colleagues who live in your area (psst…the ADRP Office can help with that)? Host a fika! 

Our skill set as a Donor Relations professional prepares us to be ready in many different situations and scenarios. This got us thinking. What other career could you see yourself in if you were not in the Donor Relations world? Leave a comment on the post in link below to let us know your thoughts! 

Background Info
 
Can you tell us about your career trajectory? How did you come into donor relations as a career?

My degree in communications led to an internship at a science museum’s development office where I began to learn all the tools of the trade. It turns out that I had a knack for storytelling and wonderful mentors in the cultural realm, medicine, and youth development who gave me opportunities to hone it!

What influenced your interest in and passion for donor relations?

Every day, I get to meld data with heartfelt experiences and stories to build positive, rich relationships among the people who benefit from our mission and the people who believe in them. It’s a perfect job for someone like me who wears their heart on their sleeve!

Suzanne Bellanger

Brown University

Associate Director, Direct Response & Stewardship Marketing

Recently my college-aged daughter texted me an image of her freshly manicured (blue! pointy!) nails and titled it “self-care”. She’d had a rough week acclimating back to school after winter break and felt the need to do something for herself. Self-care as a “thing” is pretty buzzy these days and she buys into it wholeheartedly. And I admire her for it. She’s a serious student and she tends to be anxious in a lot of situations. But she’s also really good at recognizing internal cues and understanding when she needs to indulge a bit in order to refocus or redirect. It’s a talent she didn’t inherit from me.   

Sonja Dotson

Associate Director of Donor Relations for Principal Gifts

Western Michigan University

Background Info: 

Kathleen Diemer

Associate Vice President, Advancement Relations

George Mason University 

Gather with any group of donor relations professionals and talk will eventually turn to best practices. How do we create the perfect reports, recognition pieces and events?  What innovative programs or activities will surprise and delight our donors?

Marcelle Austin, Editor

Suzanne Bellanger, Associate Editor

Rachel Humphrey, Associate Editor

Almost nine months ago, we introduced you to The Hub’s editorial board of Marcelle, Rachel, and Suzanne. We are so very pleased to bring you this newsletter each month. Thank you to all readers (almost 3K!). Thank you to the many contributors who have been gracious enough to partner with us so far. Thank you to the ADRP staff who are integral to delivering this member benefit.

We’ve made a lot of changes since we started, and we’d like to show it off and invite you to be a part of The Hub–new and improved!

Cheryl Smith Lintner

Executive Director of Donor Relations

Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation

Let me tell you about Sheryl Blair, one of ADRP’s most incredible volunteers. Sheryl was an ADRP board member who is said to have volunteered “tirelessly for people she would likely never meet, in countries when she’d never be able to visit, and did so happily with very little fanfare… it was her passion—the endless work of connecting people…” Read her full biography on ADRP’s website.

Sean Valentine
Director of Stewardship & Donor Relations
Wilbraham & Monson Academy

Stewardship and donor relations can be stressful. Anyone who has ever spelled a donor’s name wrong, forgotten that a specific board member’s spouse can’t eat fish, left someone off an invitation list or (inhales deeply) out of the annual report, knows of what I speak. It is just part of the deal; as fulfilling and vital as our work is, it is not delightful 100% of the time. Paraphrasing President Lincoln, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. But for me the challenges are more complex. 

In addition to everything our work throws at us daily, I have a +1 that I bring to the stress party: my own diagnosed mental health challenges. Yes friends, like so many people around the world, my noggin plots against me. At work, its favored way of doing so is by giving me a terrible case of imposter syndrome. This is ridiculous, not to mention inaccurate and unwarranted. A masters degree, work as a mentor, satisfactory yearly evaluations, and a solid career across multiple organizations say otherwise. “Regardless,” answers a voice, “you don’t know what you are doing!” It is a persistent little bugger, and sometimes it is LOUD. 

Cheryl Smith Lintner

Executive Director of Donor Relations

Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation

There’s a song by The Counting Crows called “A Long December” that gets a lot of play this time of year (hello, ‘90s teen over here). The chorus line, “It’s been a long December, and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last,” is both melancholy and hopeful. December is the time of the year to review goals and outcomes, start performance evaluations, recount our successes, and reflect on our mistakes. As a self-professed Type-A personality, it’s the latter that weighs most heavily on me. I made a lot of mistakes this year; we all did. I spelled a donor’s name wrong on their plaque, misread a contract, forgot to update a colleague on an important issue, hit send on that email before it was ready…and so on.

At the time, these mistakes felt like epic fails. But now, as I review the year and think back on them, I realize I learned something with every single one. My mistakes resulted in improved processes, created better and more intentional communication, and helped my team grow stronger and more focused. ADRP board member Marian Johnson said it best: while mistakes may feel like epic fails at the time, think of them instead as falling forward. Failure is a pretty strong word. But falling? Falling offers the opportunity to get back up and do it right the next time. And forward, well, that’s obvious. Don’t let mistakes set you back. Learn from them, laugh at them (if you can!), and move on. It has been a long December in a long year—and next year will be better than the last.

Q&A with Jacqueline Yau, Medical Center Development, Stanford University, Associate Director, Donor Relations

Can you tell us about your career trajectory? How did you come into donor relations as a career?

I’ve spent much of my career in marketing and communications in the private sector building programs, increasing brand value, rolling out products, and deepening consumer engagement. In the decade prior to joining donor relations, I started my own marketing consultancy. Between projects, a college friend sent me an email to inquire if I was interested in interviewing for a possible six-month contract, outside of my normal projects, to help her friend who was going on maternity leave. That position resided in my current work group. Although the initial contract position was eliminated, I was later offered the opportunity to interview for another position on the team. Despite enjoying the independence and variety of my marketing career, I found working in donor relations for Stanford Medicine really satisfying, fun, and filled with intelligent and good people. I was ready for a career pivot. I just loved my team, the mission of our group, and our culture.

What influenced your interest in and passion for donor relations? 

When I look back over my career and volunteer work, I have always been interested in connecting people and engaging them whether it’s volunteering and working on my college reunion, building a brand loyalty program, or stewarding our donors to ensure we connect them to the joy of their giving. We serve as the voice of the donor. It’s a privilege to help donors understand the impact of their philanthropy.

When focusing on what our donors want from us, we deepen their connection. We survey our donors — ask what resonates with them and how they want us to communicate. And in an ideal world, we create stewardship that drives future giving.

But in the ideal world, there are no budgets, competing priorities, or staff shortages. In reality, few shops can achieve all of their most ambitious goals. We must focus our limited resources on the greatest impact on giving — donor retention.

We know it costs less to retain a donor than to acquire a new one. But what can we do that will drive our donors to give again and again?

In their 2019 research study titled “Giving Intention Versus Giving Behavior: How Differently Do Satisfaction, Trust, and Commitment Relate to Them?” authors Jen Shang, Adrian Sargeant, and Kathryn Carpenter offer one approach: increase donor satisfaction and commitment. 

Satisfaction is “how donors feel about the way they are treated as a donor.”

Background Info: 
 
Can you tell us about your career trajectory? How did you come into donor relations as a career?

When I was a freshman in college, I started a work study position in the Parent and Alumni Relations Office. That was the first time I had heard of this line of work. But I quit in favor of taking a job in the bookstore that came with discounts! I did not even think about it as a career. After graduation, I took an administrative assistant job in donor relations as a way to get my foot in the door of a well-respected school. My plan was to work on a graduate degree and work to support that, but I fell in love with this specific aspect of fundraising and development. That job gave me a strong foundation once I was willing to consider that it might not be a pass-through opportunity, and might be a rewarding, meaningful way to earn a living.

What influenced your interest in and passion for donor relations? 

I had one mentor/boss who really encouraged me to try different aspects of donor relations work and supported healthy risk taking, encouraged me to figure out what I was good at, and supported my growth. When I started learning more about philanthropy, and considered the less transactional side of what we do—focusing on the relationships and impact—I realized that I could earn a living, do something rewarding for me, and have an impact on others.

What lessons, words of advice/inspiration would you like to pass on to other donor relations professionals?

Betsy Teles

The University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc.
Director of Donor Relations & Stewardship

In a recent conversation with a fellow colleague as we grappled with a particularly sensitive donor scenario and its complex history, they commented, “What would we do without you? You know where all the bodies are buried!” This led me to reflect on the many similar scenarios I’ve helped resolve, the donor preferences I’ve captured and explained, the development professionals I’ve helped onboard, the special touch points I’ve created and delivered, and the creative language I’ve crafted to address the most sensitive situations.

I suspect many of you out there could say the same. Donor relations professionals remain laser-focused on ensuring all donors feel valued, engaged, and appreciated, even amid a global pandemic! Yet, for those of us in the business of recognizing and thanking our donors, we may “forget” our own value to the organizations we dedicate ourselves to and our collaborative efforts remain “hidden” in the more public profile of total dollars raised. Coming out of our annual ADRP Conference, this has always been one of my main takeaways – the validation that our work is critical, appreciated, and even innovative!