The evening before my keynote presentation at the National Committee on Planned Giving in Dallas, I was having a conversation with the Senior Managing Director of State Street Global Advisors and the question came up;
What is a Relationship? It occurred to me that people in nonprofits use the world relationship with drastically different meanings.
For example, in the September 07 issue of "Advancing Philanthropy", published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), an article about the need for CRM, relationship is used as a measurement for where a donor is in the contribution cycle. In another article, in the same issue about Moves Management, relationship was defined as what your donor thinks of your organization and what you can do to make them like you more.
For me, a relationship is an emotional connection between two people that creates trust and makes people feel safe. It is not about friendship, it’s about partnership.
My philosophy is that creating a trust-building experience with someone is not magic, luck or something that happens accidentally. Being a great relationship-builder is a learned skill, like swimming or riding a bicycle – it’s a
repeatable, measurable process that produces dramatic results and it all starts with a clear definition of what truly defines a relationship.
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Thanks
Marshall
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