A growing non-profit · Documenting funder relationships
How we got what two people knew about every funder out of their heads and into one place.
What they asked for
Help writing plans for their key funders, something the team had always meant to do and kept pushing down the list. Then one of their two fundraisers handed in her notice, and it became urgent.
What was actually going on
Most of what the team knew about its funders, how each relationship started, how each gift came about, who to speak to about what, lived in two people's heads. Her colleague named it as her biggest worry: without that history, the next fundraiser would be starting from scratch.
What we built
We started from the list of key funders the leadership team already tracked, removed duplicates and confirmed the final list with the person leaving. The team already had one good plan, for its biggest funder, so we used it as the template rather than inventing something new. I set up a plan for each funder, filled in everything already written down elsewhere, and flagged the gaps. She filled those by talking rather than writing: short voice notes, turned into text and added to each plan.
What changed
The team now has 16 funder plans in one place, each with the relationship history, how gifts came about and what's still open. Her colleague goes into funder conversations with the history in front of her, and it will be the first thing the next fundraiser reads.