I recently read that sentence in a blog post from a London-based bookseller who was explaining how their time spent with customers isn’t optimized.
They went on to say…”real recommendation depends on mood, instinct, timing, enthusiasm, memory, and conversation.”
And, they further stated…”curiosity is encouraged rather than funneled…browse without being profiled… without an algorithm deciding who they are supposed to be.”
These same themes should be at the foundation of any organization’s stewardship efforts.
Building lasting, long-term, transformational relationships with donors doesn’t happen through automated thank you notes, e-newsletters or trinkets. It happens when you are spending the time to discover what it is that moves them, makes them invested, what makes them happy, scared, what impacts them, etc.
And that takes time as the donor might not be interested right away in sharing, they don’t know you or trust you yet, or the memory may not come up immediately, they may not have the time for that conversation, or they may have other things on their mind.
So, as we move to find ways to be more efficient and optimize our work, we recommend taking a page (pun intended) from this bookseller and work to protect “time, trust, serendipity, recognition and care” when building relationships with donors.