Angela Altamore
Associate Vice President
BWF

Throughout my 15-plus years as a donor relations practitioner, I spent a good chunk of my time researching and studying industry best practices. Who among us hasn’t been asked to research our “aspirational peers”? (If you haven’t yet, it’s only a matter of time!) One of the things I’ve always appreciated about the donor relations community is how generous we are in sharing what’s working, or in some cases not working, in their shops.

After years of various benchmarking requests across multiple organizations, my then boss used a phrase that still resonates and informs my approach in consulting with donor relations teams: “I am seeking effective practices, not best practices.” It was a small shift in phrasing that fundamentally changed how I approached benchmarking. I began asking different questions:

• Who are our relevant peers; not just our aspirational ones?

• If another organization has ten times the staff and five times the budget than we do, are they really a meaningful comparison?

Aspirational peers can be inspiring, but sometimes those aspirations may simply be unrealistic. Trying to implement efforts beyond your organizational capacity can result in programs that look impressive on paper but are difficult, or even impossible, to sustain. The reality is that every organization I work with is unique: different donor culture, different leadership expectations, different institutional priorities, and different resources. Simply put, what works beautifully in one organization can fall completely flat in another.

For instance, a large university with hundreds of scholarship donors might host a formal annual dinner with students and donors seated together. That approach may work perfectly in an institution with a large events team, a strong culture of large-scale gatherings, and someone dedicated to encouraging the students to participate. However, a school with less human capital, a smaller budget, or a more introverted donor culture might find greater success hosting intimate coffee meetings or virtual conversations that align with internal constraints while still encouraging deeper interaction.

Or, in another case, a comprehensive impact report may be a common practice, but if your donor base is made up primarily of younger professionals who engage digitally, shorter quarterly updates delivered through email or video may be far more effective. And even something as simple as donor recognition can vary dramatically. We all know those donors who value public acknowledgment, while others prefer quiet, personal gratitude. A recognition wall that works well at one institution might not resonate at another, where donors value privacy.

Learning from one another is essential, and the generosity of this field in sharing ideas is one of its greatest strengths. But the goal shouldn’t be to replicate someone else’s “best practice.” Instead, the real work of donor relations is understanding your donors, your organization, and your resources, and then building practices that are effective in that context.

Best practices may inspire us, but effective practices are what ultimately deepen relationships and strengthen the communities we serve.