Don't just ask: cultivate donors.

As fund raisers, we are constantly pressed to get out one more donor report, prepare another meeting agenda or acknowledge yesterday's gift. We tend to focus on the immediate--applying for, processing and acknowledging recent gifts--because these offer tangible bottom line results. But how much time are we investing in long-term cultivation to make sure new gifts and new volunteers are attracted to our institutions?

People don't give to causes. People give to people who ask on behalf of causes. Today, YMCAs exist and succeed by the actions and interests of our volunteers and donors. They are our lifeblood. They are not an endless source naturally attracted to our causes. Constant cultivation must be a strong priority to foster new sources of support.

Competition for volunteers, time and financial support has increased significantly in recent years. The concept of a global society is now real. People are more mobile and. consequently, rarely consider themselves a part of the community in which they live. Home is somewhere else: another state, another county. Therefore, commitment to and involvement with local organizations are difficult to nurture.

In our insatiable quest to exceed last year's goal, we have mechanized fund raising and, in many cases, sacrificed simple and sincere personal contact.

Here are a few simple practices which have produced long-term results for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington. They are a part of my daily work routine and have become almost second nature.

First and foremost, listen. Encourage prospects and current donors to talk about themselves. Don't start a conversation with what you need or want. Be interested instead of trying to be interesting. Collect tidbits of information: where they are from of where they went to school, how they reached their positions in their professions, unusual hobbies, personal accomplishments. Then record the information for future reference. I often come across a magazine article or reference to an upcoming TV show on something in which a donor is interested. This gives me a chance to contact that person for a reason other than to ask for a donation.

Acknowledge Donors In New Ways

Each day I scan the newspaper's "Letters to the Editor." On several occasions I have seen letters from present volunteers, or people whom I would like to cultivate. Clipping the letters and sending them along with a personal note to the people who wrote them is a way of acknowledging their convictions and scoring personal points with them.