Building Connections through Donor Communications: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Impact (W6015)-Building Connections through Donor Communications Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Lynn Wester, a donor-relations expert and founder of DRG, speaks about improving fundraising by intentionally designing the donor experience. She argues nonprofits rely too heavily on outdated practices and anecdotal complaints instead of systematically listening to donors—especially through short, anonymous surveys. She notes that for-profit companies constantly gather feedback because it works, and nonprofits should do the same to address low donor retention.<br /><br />Wester shares a case study from the Hawaii Community Foundation after the Maui fires, when the organization received 250,000 new donors in six weeks. After sending a simple three-question survey to all first-time donors, they achieved about a 23% response rate. Results shaped strategy: donors wanted updates monthly (not quarterly), preferred topics like housing and human-centered recovery, and generally did not want to hear from top administrators. Using this feedback, the team created monthly “Aloha” value-based updates, webinars, and digital impact reports (with postcards for donors without email), then focused limited staff time on the most engaged segments.<br /><br />She emphasizes modern donors prefer “snackable” communications over long reports: create once, repurpose everywhere, and repeat key stories across channels.

Keywords

donor experience design

fundraising strategy

donor feedback surveys

anonymous donor surveys

donor retention

nonprofit communications

Hawaii Community Foundation

Maui fire donations

snackable content