Friends and Family: Endowment-Building Thrives on Relationships

​“You can’t make old friends” isn’t just the title of an album; it’s an important reminder that long-term relationships are the key to successful endowment building. That’s common sense, of course, but sometimes it’s hard to put this principle into action. You’re ready now to grow your endowment fund at the Community Foundation, and you wish your donors shared your sense of urgency! 
 
There are no silver bullets or magic tricks or secret sauces to make donor relationships grow faster, but it might help to understand how your donors’ emotions factor into decision-making about when–and to what extent–they will make a financial commitment to your endowment. 
 
Along those lines, the team at the Community Foundation really enjoyed a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review offering suggestions for ways to approach philanthropy so that it is “relational,” including thinking in terms of "we" instead of "us” or “them" and moving away from hierarchical models achieving impact. 
 
As you update your endowment-building plans, consider three ideas inspired by principles of relational philanthropy. 
 
Focus on donor loyalty and trust
Keep an eye toward creating long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with donors. Trust fosters donor loyalty, encouraging recurring and more substantial contributions over time, which is crucial to ultimately securing an endowment gift. To achieve this, you need to understand what benefits the donor is seeking by supporting your organization. Is it recognition? The knowledge that they’re part of something bigger than themselves? Confidence that a problem they’ve personally wrestled with will be solved for others? The donor’s perspective matters.
 
Inspire donor advocacy
It’s one thing for donors to feel personally connected to your organization. It’s an entirely bigger thing for them to become advocates. When a donor is so dedicated to your mission that they actively encourage their friends and family to also support your organization, you know you’ve got a friend for life. Asking this type of donor for a commitment to your endowment is likely to achieve a high rate of success. Pay close attention to which donors are regularly referring new donors to your organization, whether by offering up prospect names directly or inviting prospects to join the donor’s table at your organization’s annual event. 
 
Know your audience
Large-scale communications platforms such as email campaigns, social media, and your website are important tools in all fundraising activities, including securing endowment gifts. An endowment gift is a big ask, though, so make sure to layer in highly personal outreach to your donors, in addition to general messaging. One-by-one communication across channels allows you to demonstrate your organization’s understanding of donors' individual preferences for their involvement.
 
As always, please reach out to the Community Foundation anytime you have questions about best practices for growing your endowment fund. If your organization has not yet established its endowment fund at the Community Foundation and you’d like to learn more, we’d welcome the opportunity to talk with your team and board of directors. We look forward to continuing to work side-by-side to improve the quality of life in our community through the power of philanthropy. 
​
This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.