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donor service

6 Things you get with friendraising

“Friendraising is raising money from your friends and family.” This is just one of the replies I got, when I recently asked app. 200 Dutch fundraising colleagues to send me their definition of ‘friendraising’. Well, if this is what friendraising is about, I guess the birthdays of fund- and friendraisers soon will be awfully quiet.

Fortunately, a lot of colleagues used better definitions. Myself, I like to use this one: friendraising is building sustainable relationships with persons, foundations and corporations, in order to get to know them better, and to (co)create a wide variety of ways to support your organization. Of course, a result of friendraising can be that you receive money. But if it’s up to me, it can be so much more. Let me sum up just 6 things for you. (more…)

Vera Peerdeman

What I learned about fundraising from the brazil nut

Brazil but (photo by dinesh_valke, Flickr)

The brazil nut has an interesting story, even for non-botanists like me.

For starters, it’s a seed, not a nut, but that’s not really important. It grows on large trees with yellow flowers. Although their nectar is sweet, their coiled hoods make it difficult to get to. That is, unless you’re a long-tongued orchid bee.

As the name implies, this particular orchid bee has a penchant for orchids, so you might think that doesn’t really help the Brazil nut tree. But fortunately, there’s the orchid Coryanthes vasquezii that likes to hang around our friend the Brazil nut tree. The male bees are attracted to the orchid’s scent, the female bees follow the males, and females pollinate the Brazil nut tree.

It’s like a dance between three parties that rely on each other to exist. It’s not unique necessarily, but this symbiotic triangle dawned on me as a perfect example for fundraising.

Okay, get to the fundraising part already… (more…)

Alison McCants

Through the letterbox

As Reinier discussed in his recent 101fundraising post, the 90-degree shift isn’t exactly breaking news… but is it really happening in fundraising? Or are we perhaps seeing it as just another box to tick, another marketing incantation to bandy about the meeting room (think ‘synergy’ or ‘paradigm shift’ – you know, the kinds of things Lindsey Naegle of The Simpsons might say).

But I have to admit, sometimes the theory is easier to grasp than the practical implementation. Here are some rules of thumb I try to bear in mind to make sure I keep the donor front of mind in everything we do.

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Alison McCants

Is de donateur een klant?

Een donateur is iemand die op vrijwillige basis een goed doel ondersteunt. Meestal met geld. Dit doet de donateur veelal omdat hij iets heeft of voelt met de doelstelling van het gesteunde goede doel. De donateur voelt zich betrokken en laat dit blijken door financieel te steunen. Hierdoor voelt de donateur zich ook een beetje lid, de donateur staat tenslotte samen met het goede doel pal voor de doelstelling. Om de beginvraag maar meteen te beantwoorden: Ja, de donateur is een klant.

Doen de goede doelen wel recht aan die klantstatus? Nemen zij de donateur wel serieus? Wordt een donateur wel als klant gezien? Vaak niet. (more…)

Will van Heugten