Chad Borgestad, Senior Consultant
What are your priorities? What is competing for your time?
These two questions might seem simple—almost too simple. But in the world of nonprofit leadership and fundraising, they’re nothing short of critical. The way we answer them determines whether we’ll build something that lasts or spend our days reacting to chaos while watching opportunities slip through our fingers.
Let’s get straight to it: If donor relationships are not one of your top priorities, your mission is at risk. Period.
The Reality of Today’s Nonprofit World
The demands on nonprofit leaders are endless. Board meetings. Program delivery. Staffing issues. Budget shortfalls. Crisis management. Social media updates. Grant deadlines. The list goes on.
Every day, you’re forced to decide: What gets my time today? What gets pushed to tomorrow?
All too often, donor relationships—the very lifeblood of your organization’s financial stability—get pushed into the “later” column. After all, there’s always another fire to put out.
But here’s the hard truth: If we don’t plan to prioritize our donor relationships, we will eventually lose them. Not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t make time.
Donors Are Not Just Transactions
Donors are not line items on a spreadsheet or names in a CRM. They are partners in your mission. They’re people with stories, convictions, and hopes. They give not just because of what you do, but because they want to connect to something greater.
If you’re not intentionally cultivating those relationships—through meaningful conversations, consistent follow-up, honest communication, and genuine appreciation—someone else will. Donors are increasingly savvy, and the causes they can support are endless.
When we neglect relationship-building:
- Giving becomes transactional.
- Donors feel like ATMs, not allies.
- Passion fades.
- Attrition rises.
Reclaiming Your Focus
So let’s circle back: What are your priorities? What is competing for your time?
You can’t do everything. But you can do the right things.
Here’s the challenge: block time every week for donor engagement. That might mean a phone call, a handwritten note, a lunch, or just a quick check-in. Make it personal. Make it consistent. Make it part of your organizational culture, not just a task for the development director.
Track it; put it in your calendar as a “to-do” and don’t overlook it. I know a leader of a nonprofit who keeps a list of his top 20 donors on a sticky note in his car. He reviews that list every month, calling each one to simply check in and thank them for their support. That same list becomes his prayer list on his drives.
Planning isn’t just about strategy; it’s about intentionality. If you don’t name donor relationships as a top priority, they will always get crowded out by the urgent.
The truth is, if we don’t intentionally plan to advance our priorities and protect against distractions, we risk losing focus and effectiveness in our mission.
But what happens if we do plan intentionally? We will build something that lasts. We will create momentum. We will give our mission the sustainable foundation it needs to flourish.
So, choose wisely. As you consider how to spend your time daily, be sure to prioritize what matters most. Let your donors know they matter.
We’ve been privileged to help many organizations be more effective in their fundraising by learning and implementing relational fundraising principles in their work with donors. Want to talk?