Weathering the Storm

What Major Gift Officers Can Do During COVID-19 

With daily briefings from our State and National leaders, non-stop news coverage, and overwhelming social media activity, it is easy to get side-tracked when working from home during this pandemic.

While gift officers and non-profit leaders wonder how long the stock market will continue to decline, and how this will affect short-term and long term fundraising, there are things we should all be doing today, as we sit grounded from travel, and working remotely in this unprecedented time.

An Opportunity to Solidify Relationships

Many of our leadership-level supporters are in high-risk age brackets.  They are sheltered in their homes, feeling concerned and lonely.  They, too, are overwhelmed by the stock market declines and 24-hour news coverage, and long for personal connection with friends and family.

As gift officers, we know that honest, open, respectful and thoughtful relationships with our donors are the reason they continue to support our important missions.  The age-old adage says “people give to people.”  So don’t forget at a time like this, your relationships with your closest supports matter to them.

Your top donors may be feeling lonely and concerned, and a phone call from you can go a long way to make their day.  We should all be doing this, especially with our older supporters who may live alone, and who need personal connection more than ever.

We should call and check in on our supporters, not only because it solidifies our relationships for the future, but also because it is the right thing to do.  Because people matter.  Relationships matter.  Yes, our future gifts from these donors matter too…. but today, we should be doing the right thing and letting our supporters know how important they are to us and to our organizations.