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How and Why to Ask Big Donors for Feedback

By  Maria Di Mento
April 19, 2016
How and Why to Ask Big Donors for Feedback

When officials at American Farmland Trust noticed a few years ago that the organization’s biggest donors weren’t getting the same opportunities to provide feedback as its other donors, they sprang into action.

These days, the trust sends out a donor survey every spring along with its annual report.

Feedback from top donors has helped the group understand their concerns and motivations, and the survey itself, which you can download below, has inspired some donors to give again.

Some of the open-ended questions, like one about what motivates them to contribute, are particularly useful. And a big bonus: American Farmland Trust officials recently learned through another question that nearly a dozen of its big donors have included the trust in their estate plans.

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When officials at American Farmland Trust noticed a few years ago that the organization’s biggest donors weren’t getting the same opportunities to provide feedback as its other donors, they sprang into action.

These days, the trust sends out a donor survey every spring along with its annual report.

Feedback from top donors has helped the group understand their concerns and motivations, and the survey itself, which you can download below, has inspired some donors to give again.

Some of the open-ended questions, like one about what motivates them to contribute, are particularly useful. And a big bonus: American Farmland Trust officials recently learned through another question that nearly a dozen of its big donors have included the trust in their estate plans.

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  • How and Why to Ask Big Donors for Feedback
Read other items in this Donor Relations: Beyond the Basics package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Communications and MarketingAdvocacy
Maria Di Mento
Maria Di Mento directs the annual Philanthropy 50, a comprehensive report on America’s most generous donors. She writes about wealthy philanthropists, arts organizations, key trends and insights related to high-net-worth donors, and other topics.
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