Five Ideas for Motivating Donors - Part 3

The Value of Donor Dinners

Why do your top givers support your organization? What drives them? What are they most passionate about? What pieces of your mission are they most inspired by?

Can you answer those questions about your top tier of donors and volunteers?

As part of our series of five ideas to help you engage and motivate donors, we’re looking today at donor relationships and the concept of donor dinners. If it’s been a long time since you asked the questions above of your best givers… or if you’ve never asked… this is an easy, simple idea that will have ripples of impact.

Let me first say that donor dinners don’t have to be formal or fancy. All we mean is a specific time to sit over a meal with your best givers. It can be:

🍳 A greasy spoon diner breakfast
🥪 A sub lunch
🏡 A homemade meal or grill out

Some development officers or nonprofit leaders find it works well to invite two or three couples or a small group of givers, while others prefer to do these individually.

What’s the purpose?

The purpose is simply to:

✨ Learn more about these important donors
🙏 Thank them for their generosity
💬 Understand how they got involved
💡 Discover why they invest in your mission

This isn’t a giving “ask” at all—it’s a time to just get to know them better.

Make it a Habit

If you can plan even just one or two of these a month, you can connect with a good portion of your top givers in the course of a year. When you make this part of your routine, it not only strengthens your relationships, it gives you:

🔍 A perspective on how donors plan their giving
❤️ Insights into what motivates them
📅 A sense of their rhythms, life changes, or work updates that affect involvement

Don’t Forget Your Volunteers

Extend this practice to your most heavily involved volunteers as well. They can:

🙋‍♂️ Offer valuable feedback
🤝 Become your best long-term givers
📈 Provide insights that help shape your stewardship strategy

The Takeaway

The act of breaking bread (or eggs!) together demonstrates your care for these generous donors and the ways they impact your mission.

This fundamental practice can help undergird everything else in your stewardship plans—from capturing donor testimonials to planning for your next capital campaign.

— Tim Smith