The number one mistake I make when working with donors and prospects?
I work too fast.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it’s true. I have to catch myself, time and again, and work very hard to not do that.
Please don’t make this same mistake.
Whether you’re on a visit, sending an email, making a phone call or writing a handwritten note, every contact with your donor has to appear to your donor as though he, she, or they are the most important priority in your world at that moment.
If we’re thinking about our next visit, looking at our watch, or trying to jam too much into the last hour of the day we risk flubbing up. Like we are connecting with them “on the fly.”
That is worse than no connect at all.
Take your time. The donor can tell. The very best way for your donor to feel that they’re important to you, that you took the time to think about him or her, is to actually TAKE THE TIME.
That donor is so precious to you. Don’t risk damaging the relationship you’ve so carefully built by giving the impression you don’t have time for them.