Where is "donor centricity"? Sometimes underfoot.
File under: How deeply changeable is the human brain?
Well, there were 2 BIG mental disturbances in 2007, Facebook and iPhone. But generally speaking, if you're a satisfied practitioner of "donor-centricity" in your fundraising comms, here's a 99%-good rule...
Place "donor hugs" wherever an eye might land
Dear reader: Recently on LinkedIn, I said that the brickwork donor acknowledgement (shown below) was an example of "Real donor-centricity." Three words. The photo was taken on a stroll around Instagram-perfect Scituate Harbor, MA.
Fundraising super-pro (+UChicago-grad) Kate S. immediately shot back:
"How so?"
¶ Hence a reply >>>
Hello, Kate!
THE BRICKS give people an affordable way to express themselves publicly, in their community ...
... to share their voice, their presence, their emotions, their loves, passions, reflections, opinions with their "common union" of neighbors.
Bricks also give donors a way to honor those whom they deem personally meaningful, worthy of remembrance ...
... while underscoring for countless others walking by a positive community norm and value.
PHOTO NOTE:
I was looking down, enjoying a gab-walk with my precious in-laws, Nicole and Larry, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, when SALT WATER IN OUR VEINS caught my eye.
As Agitator subscribers were reminded by Kevin Schulman & DonorVoice, March 2024:
“Almost all giving is autobiographical.”
SALT WATER IN OUR VEINS had special meaning.
See, the Scottish side of my family tells the tale of a Hebrides mermaid who met and fell in true love with a land-bound chieftain. His clan name was McKay (née my mom).
Now mermaids can come onto land and be fine. But humans cannot return the favor. Anyway, they had a child together and the years passed with great affection.
But late in life she grew tormented. She pined for her own kind. One day she could no longer resist and walked to the beach, entering her home waves again, leaving her dear husband and child behind. They mourned her loss and hoped one day she'd return.
Which is why, dear reader, so the legend goes: many McKays to this day live near the ocean, awaiting a mermaid ancestor. Where is my front door? A mere 37 miles away from my favorite place to have full-bellied fried clams, at the seaside restaurant where I first declared love to Sim One, in their gravel lot.
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The how-to article above contains ZERO AI contributions. A human wrote every word.
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