Regular Communication Between Development and Finance Departments is Essential for Donor Management [SUBSCRIBERS-ONLY]

Donors are one of the most precious sources of funding for publicly supported nonprofit organizations. Managing this resource is critical to sustainability, continuity, and financial health. There are many important elements to donor management, but these elements will be rendered almost useless without consistent pathways of communication and sharing of information between development and finance departments.

Recently, I had a discussion with a senior development officer that jumped-started my thinking on the importance of regular sharing of information between development and finance departments. The development officer lamented that “…. if only there were more regular communication between finance and development departments. This would greatly reduce most of the common mistakes and disruptions that occur while managing donor engagement, contributions, and pledges."

When it comes to contributions and pledges, the finance department concentrates mainly on compliance, documentation, tracking, and reporting. In contrast, the development department focuses mostly on mission and project storytelling, identifying donor prospects, acquiring pledge commitments, and receiving and facilitating donations.

Notice how disconnected the focus is for the two departments. This disconnection can lead to errors, inefficiency, and loss of donor confidence.