'Donor Centred' is just jargon

Have you thought recently about what it actually means to truly be donor centred? I know we all talk about it a lot. If you throw the words 'donor centred' into a job interview people will really think you know what you are doing. I think the term 'donor centred' has become jargon.

What does 'donor centred' really mean?

As I was thinking about my next presentation to our board of directors I tweeted this question to my fundraising colleagues. Just look at the response (In reverse order of how they were received AND a cool example of why I love twitter so MUCH!):

@markyphillips We use donor 'needs', placing them at the centre of why, when and how we communicate.




@jonathongrapsas we prefer to use 'donor care'. Which is about asking, thanking, feeding back and caring. Then doing it again and again and...



@GabryelB it means getting your eyes off your organisations bellybutton and taking the view of the donors: his needs, wants, desires.




@FLA_Leah donor-centred fundraising equals heart and soul fundraising



@derekhumphries actually don't think you should put donors needs ahead of org needs, especially if one has human beneficiaries.

@derekhumphries be courteous. Be kind. Listen. Offer more than you ask. Leave donors in no doubt how magnificent they are and can be.



@Gl0ria Donor centered. Co-investors in making the vision a reality.




@jennifermchase Donor centred is serving the donor in a way that puts their needs/wants first (as opposed to the wants of the org).



@agentsofgood -it means putting the donors needs, wants, everything before yours as an organization.



And I think my favourite:

@FRSuccess Donor centered: Treating donors as partners in your mission rather than walking ATMs?



So now I'm thinking...what is it that donors need?

As a donor I know I need to be able to read the material and know that my money is making a difference.

What do you need as a donor? (Because presumably if you are a fundraiser reading this blog you are a donor too right?!)

When you are finished commenting here on your needs as a donor. Check out this great post from Mark Phillips at Blue Frog on what donors need.

Thank you for spending time here.

The best cup of chai in the world

In a previous post I talked about pomegranate juice. Today I am going to tell you about the best cup of chai tea in the world.

I arrived in India on the red eye from London in the middle of August. In London I was upgraded to business class after charming a grumpy ticket agent and giving her a gift of Canadian maple syrup. So I had slept - a little.

I worked my way out of the airport and found my driver holding up a card with my name 'keembirli'. I followed him to a run down and dirty car, got in and hoped for the best in spite of the lack of seatbelt.

The chaos, heat, smell of the road from Jaipur to India overwhelmed my senses. It is hard to imagine anything more opposite to the Canadian countryside where I live. My driver didn't speak English so I was alone with my thoughts and became an observer in a distant land, watching everything.

Three hours into the drive we pulled over at a gas station with a flat tire. While the driver put on the spare I watched the group of people surrounding an overturned car assessing the damage of a very recent and serious accident. Naivety now dissolving I started to worry for my safety and remembered that the seat belt in the car was in fact broken.

Fifteen minutes further down the road we pulled over again. Now in what appeared to be a junk yard, I had no choice but to change my clothes and relieve myself behind a billboard. When I reappeared it was obvious we were at an Indian tire store.
There were several men walking around and kicking the tire very much like they do in Canada and probably the rest of the world. I found a patch of grass and sat down. I was alone, tired, hungry on the side of the road in the middle of Rajasthan, no telephone, no one to call, my only company some wild dogs, a cow and eight Indian men changing a tire. There wasn't a motel 6 in sight.

In time a very old man in tattered clothes and bare feet appeared. He was approaching me with something in his hands. As he got closer I recognized a china cup and a plate with cookies. 'Namaste' I said for the very first time. He looked down at the ground and passed me his gift of chai tea and a snack. I didn't know what to do so I looked to see what the others were doing. Everyone was sitting down and drinking their chai.

The hot sweet taste of the chai on that dry patch of grass filled me with comfort and faith in the people I was with. These people were good people, I wasn't alone. They would make sure I got to Jaipur by nightfall. When I finished the very best cup of chai in the world I joined the small group as they finished putting the patched up tire on the car and we continued our journey.

This wasn't a junkyard at all, it was India's version of Canadian Tire and Tim Horton's and I'd like to go back there again.
Thank you for spending time here.