A Stewardship Conversation with Karen Paul, CFRE

Stewardship and gratitude are such integral components of successful philanthropy efforts. In my mind, it all comes down to showing appreciation for the people who make our work in the nonprofit sector possible.

That's why I was shocked earlier this summer when I shared the results of a small test where 8 out of 10 organizations that received a contribution never sent a thank you letter or followed up on that gift in any way, either online or offline. Unfortunately, the fact that 80% didn't say thank you isn't the part that shocked me. What shocked me was that there's a subset of fundraisers and nonprofit leaders who came to the defense of that 80% and in some instances even suggested that it's a) wrong for donors to expect to be thanked, and b) that thanking a donor for their giving is akin to begging them for their support. 

This was such a crazy conversation that it sparked additional dialogue across the industry. I jumped onto the Responsive Fundraising Podcast and spoke with Noah Barnett, CMO at Virtuous Software about this. And recently my good friend Lisa Greer, author of Philanthropy Revolution and the Philanthropy 451 Blog wrote about this situation even last week. 

In the midst of this discussion, I had the opportunity to sit down with my new friend, Karen Paul, CFRE to talk specifically about this. Karen is Director of Development at Science Museum of Oklahoma, and I was particularly interested to hear her on-the-ground perspective on this issue.

What I think you'll find is a very balanced discussion of this issue, that I hope adds value to your work and challenges your thinking in the process. 

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