Relationship Fundraising – the hard way
Howard Lake | 30 April 2007 | Blogs
I have just come back from doing a masterclass and a couple of workshops from the German Fundraising “Kongress”. It was in a small town called Fulda, about an hour from Frankfurt by train, and attracted more than 500 fundraisers mostly from Germany, but also Switzerland and Austria.
Two things struck me (apart from obviously being put to shame by delegates’ fantastic command of English). First, how friendly and self-deprecating the folk were – happy to turn instantly from speaking German to English over breakfast or coffee or in the bar, and overwhelmingly to cheer on Liverpool against Chelsea in the Champions League. As a lone Englishman, I probably spoke to more people there than I ever have at the IoF Conference (at least sober). There was also huge knowledge and understanding of fundraising, some great ideas, and a willingness to share and learn that was very refreshing to be part of.
The second interesting thing was on the topic of relationship fundraising – the subject of my masterclass. Having talked about motives, segmentation, propositions, and outstanding supporter care, I was approached by a delegate at the end of the class who said (very politely), “Mr Grain, I was very disappointed with the masterclass today”. A little taken aback, I asked why and she said, “because I think it is wrong to ask donors about themselves and what they like. I wanted to know about relationship fundraising that didn’t involve any of that and there wasn’t any.” And with that she left.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.