Donor Relations and Authenticity

Recently I had the privilege of hearing Jennifer Darin Cooper speak on what motivates her as a philanthropist. In a conference that often raised the importance of authentic relationships and the ethic of care, it was a highlight of the conference to hear directly and authentically from such a prolific and generous donor. In interview with Janine Collins at the Culture Business Conference, Jennifer Darin Cooper talked about wanting to see the impact of her donations and the need for real communication, not 'tick box' automated emails.

Of course, in the SME arts sector, when you don't necessarily have a development/philanthropy manager, it's your average over-burdened CEO, in the middle of that familiar quotidian battle between strategic work and operations, who is also responsible for maintaining donor relations. (Boards rarely, in my experience, step up.) Sometimes donor relations seems an emotional labour too far. This labour has become even more difficult in recent times with fraught sector politics that have pitted one part of Australian society against another.

But one realisation for me in what Jennifer talked about was that donors to your organisation donate because they share your mission and passion. Or at least the good ones do. And this is often motivated by a deep sense of the need to give back. Jennifer relayed something very personal and moving in explaining her own motivation to donate. When her parents arrived in Australia, they arrived with nothing. Having survived the Holocaust, her parents wanted to give back "to the country that had given them everything." Jennifer continues that desire to give back. This is a contribution to the arts sector, more than dollars, worth honouring.