Stop Keeping Records!

Start Giving Them.

Do you talk to yourself?

Good. It’s important to be your own best friend, especially in the fundraising life. But there is a third partner I want you to invite into that inner conversation: your successor.

The person who will hold your job after you’re gone.

Hear me out. Thinking regularly about your successor provides a powerful “why” for the task everyone hates: action reports.

I imagine my successor as a fresh-faced, enthusiastic fundraiser. I picture them riding along with me on visits, asking earnest questions:

• “Why are we visiting this prospect?”

• “What’s her connection to our organization?”

• “How did you know to steer her toward a stock gift instead of a planned gift?”

Your successor is entitled to those answers. And you provide them every time you log your notes into the database.

(Jargon Alert: Someone in your office calls this the “CRM.” Whatevs.)

Nobody loves data entry. We love seeing folks. To paraphrase Westley, the hero in The Princess Bride: “We are women and men of action. Keyboards do not become us.”

But record-keeping is non-optional. If you want to be a pro, you must leave a trail. It isn’t enough to keep the story in your head.

Here’s the trick: When you remember who the data is for, the task is no longer “record keeping.” It becomes record giving.

A generous person like you is wired to give. Don’t keep records — give them. When you view it as a gift, you’ll find the motivation to go beyond the bare minimum. The next fundraiser needs to see more than just a date and a dollar amount; they need the history and context, the web of relationships, and the “why” behind the strategy. You alone have the power to give them what they will need.

Do this unfailingly. Do it promptly. Or get a different job. (I’m dead serious.) There is no room in this profession for “pros” who leave a mess behind—or no trail at all!

(Special note: If a donor’s cell phone number is in your personal contacts but NOT in the database…may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your underwear drawer!)

You owe this “record gift” to your imaginary buddy, your someday successor. But you also owe it to:

1. The Organization: The insights you’ve gained are their intellectual property. Give it back.

2. The Donor: They are at the center of this. Shared strategy helps them flourish.

3. Yourself: Writing reports is how you learn. Reflecting on a visit helps you spot what went well and where you can improve. It makes you a better fundraiser every single time.

Stop record keeping. Start record giving. See what a difference it makes — not just for the database, but for you.

The editor of “To Be a Fundraiser” is Kelly Wendell, Coordinator of Communication at South Dakota State University.

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash