Fan-girl (and -boy) Moment: Key Takeaways from Penelope Burk's Closing Keynote

Sarah Brickman
Assistant Director of Donor Relations
Syracuse University

When Penelope Burk opened her keynote on the last day of the 15^th Annual ADRP International Conference in St. Louis, she said the words that made every Penelope Burk fan-girl and fan-boy in the room smile ear to ear:

“You are my people!” she cheered, smiling broadly and raising her arms as if to envelop the crowd in a hug.

Ms. Burk is the founder and president of Cygnus Applied Research, Inc., a Toronto-based research, training and education firm that is defined by its promotion of the philosophy of donor-centered fundraising. Many in the donor relations field began their careers by studying the results of the Burk Donor Survey – the first comprehensive study of its kind on non-profit donor relations in America. At the ADRP Conference, she introduced the second edition of her well-known book, Donor-Centered Fundraising.

Her keynote, in concert with the new edition of the book, focused on retention and recognition. She shared some of the new results of the updated study, including the impactful statement that donors are giving the same amount as they always have, but to fewer causes. She found that there has been a 17.5% net decline in donor acquisition. Seventy percent of donors surveyed give a low first-time gift to see what an organization will do with it. If they are informed of, and happy with, how their money was spent, they may give again at a higher level. It is therefore incumbent upon donor relations professionals, more than ever before, to ensure that an effective acknowledgement and communications program is in place. She offered tips and tactics for testing and seeking leadership approval for more robust and specialized communications, because it is exceedingly important to reward first-time giving and keep those early donors engaged.

On the topic of recognition, Ms. Burk shared several stories of recognition missteps—some horrific faux pas, some that barely missed the mark. The central point that emerged between them was that you have to “know your people.” Communications should be personalized and prompt. Recognition should be visible and meaningful to both the donor and the recipients of their generosity. Gifts should be specific to the individual and useful. And the research’s findings on donor lists are as negative as ever: not only do donors not care about lists, they are sometimes alienated by them. Just because someone doesn’t give a seven-figure gift doesn’t mean they didn’t give to their greatest capacity. Both should be celebrated with equal fanfare.

After Ms. Burk’s keynote—and after throngs of attendees flocked to her book-signing table and bought out her entire supply of the second edition, snapping excited selfies and offering heartfelt thanks for her impact on the field—The Hub caught up with her for a short interview.

How has it been to be back at ADRP?

It’s fantastic. The organizers of the very first conference, then known as the New England Stewardship Conference, were the ones that noticed me first. I had done the research in Canada and I had published under something called Thanks!... A Guide to Donor-Centred Fundraising. The New England Stewardship Conference needed a closing speaker and I agreed to do it. After that, one thing led to another and I started getting calls from all over the place saying, ‘When is the American edition coming out?’ And that’s when I hopped right to it!

And now you have a second edition!

Yes—much needed, because there’ve been a lot of changes in the industry.

What’s next for Donor Relations?

The big point of concentration has to be somewhere where people aren’t looking right now, and it's right at the point of the receipt of the first gift. Once a donor is in the door, it’s right at that moment in time—not waiting to see if they’ll give again, or if they’ll give more generously—to put the full force of donor relations on that donor immediately.

You invest a lot to acquire a donor, and the investment exceeds the return. Donor acquisition, if it’s being done well, loses money. You only start making money with donor renewal. If you wait and don’t bring donor relations in until some later date, then most donors are gone immediately because of a lack of donor relations. There are a lot of things that donor relations experts and professionals do for—and a good chunk of the budget designated to donor relations is devoted to—donors at the very top of the giving spectrum, such as inviting them to events. They then say quietly to me, behind the scenes, ‘I don’t need that. I don’t need to go to one more donor recognition event where I’m seeing the same people I always see. But I would go to your event if you sat me at a table with seven young donors who are just starting to give, and I’d turn them into philanthropists before the night was out.’

What your big donors want, they’re saying they're not getting. But what your younger (but not necessarily new) donors are not getting, they actually need. So, if the attention was reversed and put at the bottom of the giving pyramid, there would be an instant change in the bottom line. It is through donor relations that all profit is made.

What’s next for Cygnus Applied Research?

We are very interested in getting information on non-white donors in every respect, including donor relations. Right now 98% of the respondents in our studies are white, and that is not how the population is distributed in the country. We’re missing so many people. I know they’re giving, but their donor experience is not being documented. I do this research for fundraisers. It’s through understanding donors’ bottom lines that fundraisers can decide where to put their emphasis. There are articles coming out in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and other places now where non-white fundraisers are standing up and saying, ‘our donors aren’t emerging donors, like they never gave before. They’ve been giving all along, but nobody is recognizing them.’ That is an area that we would like to partner with other researchers to do.

Given your new research and your long experience in this field, what advice do you have for newcomers?

Keep your outside perspective in tune for as long as you can. Fundraising is a system. It’s very organized and it’s integrated, like a big machine. The upside of systems is that they set certain standards. The downside is that they don’t let other ideas in. They turn inward. Systems are all about replicating themselves and doing the same thing because this is what we know works. Young fundraisers, or mid-career fundraisers, coming into donor relations come with a perspective that is often quickly squelched. One question I like to ask is: think back in your fundraising career to the first job you ever had in fundraising. In that job, think of a time when you had a new idea or different idea, based on your unrestricted outside perspective. Think about getting excited about that new idea and then taking it to your boss and having it shot down. Then think about the next time you had a new idea and how you hesitated. And then ask yourself: when did I stop having good ideas? As soon as your imagination and creativity are stripped, you are an “experienced fundraiser.” And that is the last place you want to go.

This interview has been edited for clarity.