David Boyd-Thomas, CFRE in Front & Centre , March 2001, volume 8, no. 2, p. 11

Title: Thanks!...A Guide to Donor-Centered Fundraising
Type: Book review
Description: A Canadian volume with statistics and sample material addressing the need for a holistic donor-centered approach to fundraising.
Author: Burk, Penelope
Publisher/Distributor: Cygnus Applied Research, Inc., $75, 1-800-263-0267
Subject terms: research, other, fundraising approach

At last, a practical and pragmatic Canadian volume chockfull of statistics and sample materials addressing the need for a holistic donor-centered approach to fundraising. This slim volume may be deceptive in its 193-page brevity, but it covers the waterfront of what is referred to a donor stewardship - an area of fundraising practice that can be woefully overlooked in many charitable organizations through sheer pressure to get the dollars in or lack of resources. Burk has taken many donor stewardship techniques that have long been hallmarks of major gifts programs and applied them more broadly to all aspects of fund development.

More than 110 organization took part in a comprehensive four-year national study on donor communications and recognition practices that forms the core of Burk's thesis. She sets out straightaway with her premise of a "future fundraising gap" based on continued slow growth in giving levels combined with current levels of donor attrition leading to a shortfall between need and new donors. She then goes on to propose a series of changes to current fundraising practice. The outcome of these could simplistically be reduced to: consistently delivered and appropriate donor communication and recognition strategies can dramatically increase financial support of Canada's charitable organizations.

This volume will be especially welcome both for seasoned fundraisers and volunteers as well as those newer to the profession in that it compellingly articulates a vision for a new approach to how donors are identified, cultivated, solicited, thanked, recognized and brought closer to the work of charitable organizations through thoughtful communication.

Well-known throughout Canada among fundraising professionals, Penny Burk peppers the book with personal asides that are among the volume's strongest features. They drive home the point that the work of fundraisers is ultimately defined by the personal dedication and passion of its practitioners applied toward realizing the charitable mandate of the organization we have the privilege of serving.

David Boyd-Thomas CFRE, is National Director of Fund Development for the Canadian Diabetes Association, a Director of the AFP Toronto Chapter, and member of the Voluntary Sector Initiative Working Group on Funding.

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