Bridget Edmonds
Director of Donor Stewardship
The Nature Conservancy in Maine

1. What kind of organization are you doing donor relations in right now?

The Nature Conservancy is an environmental organization that works with communities to clear obstacles and find solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

2. What’s a donor relations topic you’re always happy to talk about?

How to surprise and delight a donor.

3. What donor relations practice did you stop doing—and why?

I stopped sending thank yous to every donor and focused on those with whom we have a personal relationship. The volume was too high to manage, and the donors were already receiving a thank you from our global headquarters. While our local thank you was a nice touch, it was redundant and freed up time to focus on major donors.

4. What’s one donor relations decision that didn’t work—and what did it teach you?

I surveyed the members of a recognition society to better understand how they would like to be engaged, communicated with, and recognized. As it turns out, only about 1/3 to 1/2 responded, and most of them wanted to be recognized in a donor list, which we don't currently have. I learned that recognition lists have not yet fallen out of favor, like I believed, and I better figure it out.