Do you know what this is? It’s my happy place—a magic drawer stocked with cards for every occasion. And every good fundraiser should have one.

Great stewardship means having your donors top of mind. Is it their birthday? Tell them to eat cake. Are they welcoming their first grandbaby? Say congrats! Moving to their dream retirement home? Send them an abundance of good wishes. Whatever it is, let them know you’re thinking of them.

But can’t I do that in an email? Of course you can, but that’s too easy. You could type that email in your sleep. With a card, you’re telling your donor that they deserve a special kind of greeting. One that takes time, effort, and most importantly, thought. It’s touches like these that move your relationships forward and deepen the bond between your donors and your organization.

And want to know what card I recently added to my collection? An anniversary card. No, not the wedding kind, the kind to celebrate donor anniversaries. “Five years ago today, you changed the world. That day you made your first gift, a gift that we still remember and appreciate…”

You’re still here? What are you waiting for already? Find a drawer and buy some cards. Happy stewarding!

While registering for an upcoming conference this weekend, I noticed something that can drive a sponsor crazy. Like all donor relationships, paying attention to details can be the difference between a one-time gift and long-term giving. As fundraisers, we cringe when we’re notified that we misspelled a donor’s name. We pride ourselves for knowing better. And that’s why I was disappointed to see the following during my registration experience.

First you see this:

And then as you continue your registration, you see this. Can you spot the problem?

If you said, the Google map!, you were right. Google isn’t a partner. Microsoft is. Bing maps should be the tool! It’s these details that I’m talking about. Fundraisers should know better. It’s just good stewardship.

Have you experienced these types of missteps in managing donor relationships? If so, in what way? Here’s one of my own to start you thinking. At one event I managed, OfficeMax was a generous sponsor yet I had my volunteers using Staples clipboards. And guess who pointed that out? That’s right, my OfficeMax sponsor. It was that moment that I said to myself, “I will never miss that type of detail again. Ever.”