Donors are the lifeblood of every nonprofit organization. Yet, many nonprofits see donors only as funding sources when, in fact, they have much more to offer. By providing several opportunities for donors to get involved with your organization, you will help them achieve their philanthropic goals while simultaneously helping you achieve your organization's goals.

Several years ago, I attended a seminar that completely changed the way I viewed donors. Jim Lord, president of the Philanthropic Quest International and author of the renowned book, The Raising of Money, conducted a half-day seminar with our small fundraising team at Food for the Hungry, an international relief and development organization.

Jim began by challenging the conventional wisdom of fundraising by asserting that "organizations have no needs." Instead, he presented a paradigm shift in fundraising that stated successful philanthropy is built on the strengths, accomplishment, and potentials of the nonprofit organization and its donors rather than problems and deficiencies.

He explained that we needed to allow our donors to develop a shared vision of a future society in which they wanted to live. At the core of this approach is the donor's personal quest to make a meaningful contribution to society. Once you determine your donors' interests in, and motivation for, helping others, you can work to develop a collaborative strategy where they can get involved in helping you advance your mission in a number of ways. These include recruiting other donors, providing funds, visiting your program(s), serving on your Board, hosting a fundraising event, and serving as advocates for your programs and mission.

But how do we change our fundraising strategy to include a shared vision with our donors? We must first change the way we view them. A good first step in doing this is to reflect upon our own charitable giving.

During the seminar, Jim asked each of us about the first time we did something to help someone in need. I told the team about how my siblings and I held Muscular Dystrophy Carnivals back in the 1970s. We built booths, developed carnival games, and placed flyers around the neighborhood to advertise the event. We asked local storeowners for non-monetary donations (candy for prizes, toys for the carnival games, etc.). We put in many hours of work, but had a lot of fun in the process. The biggest reward came after the carnival, when we carefully counted all the money we raised and gave it to our mother, who then sent a check to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

After the rest of the Food for the Hungry team members shared their stories, Jim asked us to think about how those early experiences of helping others affected our own charitable giving. Many of us shared how we continued to give to the same organization or similar organizations for years afterward. I recalled sending donations to MDA into adulthood. The entire team agreed that our charitable experiences provided the foundation for a lifetime of giving and volunteering with organizations in which we strongly believed.

Jim then told us to think about the fact that each of our donors had their own personal charitable giving history and reasons for giving to Food for the Hungry. From that point on, I began viewing fundraising from a completely new perspective!

I realized that our donors were no longer just people that sent a check every month. Each one had their wn first experience of philanthropy – whether it was holding an MDA carnival, taking food to a sick neighbor, volunteering to serve food to the homeless, or some other experience. In addition, each one had a reason that s/he wanted to support the work of Food for the Hungry. Suddenly I wanted to learn about those stories and the path that led each of them to our door!

Your organization can serve your donors best by finding out what you’re doing that interests each of them the most. Is it your mission? A particular community outreach program? Your unique approach to health care? Find out what excites your donors and you will find ways to develop a stronger partnership with them.

The best way to learn about your donors’ philanthropic goals and interest in your organization is to talk with them. I suggest you develop a plan to call each of your major donors, Board members, and other key partners over the course of several weeks.

Then, set up a schedule to make your calls. Allow 15-20 minutes per call. Start out by asking some Appreciative Inquiry questions, such as “When was the first time you wanted to help someone?” “When was the first time you changed someone else’s life or your own through the giving process?” “What is behind your desire to help others?” and “Is there a parable, tenet, individual, or some other figure that inspired your giving?”

After you learn about their philanthropic history, ask them why they began funding your organization. Ask them what they like best about your mission and/or programs. Ask for suggestions on ways to improve the particular program they are interested in or for advice on how you could impact more people. Resist the temptation to “teach” the donor something new about your agency. Remember, this call is designed to help you learn more about your donors and partners.

If you are apprehensive about calling, remember that you are doing so to learn how you and your organization can serve their philanthropic needs better. You’re actually calling as a service to your donors – to help them get more involved in an organization for which they already have shown their interest by being donors. You can help enhance their experience and involvement by learning about their specific interests in your organization, mission, and programs so they can be assured their time, money, and energies are well invested.

After you have completed your calls, you will have a treasure trove of information about your donors’ interests so that you can discuss new opportunities to involve them in your organization to fulfill their philanthropic goals. If someone suggested ways to expand one of your programs to serve more children, for example, make a follow-up call or visit with that person to discuss ways s/he can help you develop new programs, recruit volunteers, and secure funds for the expansion. If someone suggested adding more computers for your administrative staff, ask him/her to help you meet with a local computer company to request computers and training.

When you engage your donors, Board members, and other individuals as true partners, they consider themselves team members with you and feel they have a stake in your success. As such, they are more likely to help bring on new funders, volunteer, provide for your organization in their will, host fundraising events, and help in many other ways.

The Philanthropic Quest has proven to be a very successful method of fundraising and is quickly gaining momentum throughout the nation. Nonprofits that view their donors as individuals with ideas, passions, experiences, and networks have a vast pool of resources they can tap into to help them better serve their constituencies and carry out their programs. As Jim Lord so aptly said it, “The Quest is more than a strategy…it goes beyond money. It is a choice to actively construct new possibilities from the best of the past and the best of the present.”

Kelly Hurt (k.hurt@att.net) is the President of Kelly Hurt & Associates, Inc., a grantwriting and fundraising consulting agency. She has raised millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations throughout the United States using a personalized approach to fundraising that focuses on developing partnerships and helping donors achieve their philanthropic goals.

For more information about the Philanthropic Quest, please visit www.lord.org; for more information about Appreciative Inquiry, please visit www.serve.com/taos/appreciative.html.