Relationship Journey

Relationship Circle


Traditional wisdom in fundraising says that transformational, recurring donors only arrive once in a life-time for a nonprofit, and are the result of high-paid, individual work by your star major giving officer.

 The secret is, anyone in any organization can grow all the transformational donors you need by ensuring that you have a strong pipeline of giving at all levels.  It’s a way of thinking about your organization as a system, some parts of which lean more heavily on mass-customization of the donor experience, while other parts lean more heavily on personal 1:1 engagement.  You need both approaches to work in harmony in order to run a successful non-profit.  Certainly, only a very few donors will travel to the very center of your mission and engage in a conversation about a transformational donation, but when you have a healthy ecosystem pipeline of donors at all levels, your organization can thrive because you will have revenue each year that you can depend on, and a thoughtful way forward for donors to get more and more invested in your mission.  It’s hard work, and requires a thoughtful approach, but once you have the journey in mind and systems in place, you can begin to engage a larger audience of donors, at all levels, in more meaningful ways.  Join me and Yen Azzaro from thepaperpusher.co as we take you on a visual walk down the relationship journey for donors to nonprofit organizations.