How Do You Build Long-term Donor Relationships?
On this episode of Rally & Engage by CauseVox, we talk with Jonah Halper about the similarities between traditional dating (not tinder dating) and donor cultivation, four rules for healthy donor cultivation, and practical steps you can take to begin cultivating long-term relationships.
Jonah a principle at ALTRUICITY, a fundraising and marketing consultancy, the author of the book ‘Date Your Donors’, and has over a decade of experience in philanthropy, specializing in new donor acquisition.
From 2006-2008, Jonah worked as the Director of the Young Leadership & Community Divisions for the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey. During this time with UJA, Mr. Halper organized community wide philanthropic events that brought close to 600 hundred volunteers on a weekly basis and over 1.2 million dollars for the Annual Campaign. As director, Jonah was also able to rebrand his division and increase its exposure through high-end social events and philanthropic involvement.
In 2008, Jonah accepted the position of Associate Director at the American Friends of Shalva located in the Greater New York Area. His accomplishments in this position over the course of two years included the attraction of new donors and the acquisition of over $250,000 from new donors and corporate gifts, as well as the management of upscale receptions that hosted multiple donors and community leaders.
His extensive experience in fundraising and community involvement propelled Jonah to publicly speak around the United States on Philanthropy and train people on fundraising techniques. Due to the wild success of his speeches and accomplishments, Halper decided to compile his ideas in a book.
Although writing has never been a passion for Jonah, he was adamant about sharing his thoughts and expertise with an audience who is interested in philanthropy and donor relations. Halper’s new book Date Your Donors was recently released on Amazon. Jonah’s thought process behind the book was simple, he wanted to make fundraising attractive and accessible to more people. The average person knows how to “sell” themselves in their personal and/or professional lives, and fundraising is about developing a substantive relationship, and not simply “dialing for dollars.” Date your Donors is his way of taking the mystery out of fundraising, and making it available to anyone; parents, teachers, volunteers etc.
Additional resources:
- Jonah’s book, ‘Date Your Donors‘
- Date Your Donors: How To Build Long-term Donor Relationships
- Donor Engagement & Retention Playbook
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