October 16, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Behind the approach: Many donors weren’t interested in talking to fund raisers or staying involved with a charity during the recession, largely out of concern they would be asked for money they felt too financially squeezed to give.
What’s working: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (No. 320), in Seattle, kept inviting its generous donors to events and assured them they didn’t have to worry about giving. “We know we were all feeling the effects [of the recession], but we didn’t want to lose our donors,” says Barbara Feasey, interim executive director of development. To that end, they also sought to make the experience fun for families.
One event designed to appeal to families is a “lab crawl.” Parents and kids visit research labs, where they can get an up-close-and-personal look at an area of research with an interactive presentation by a scientist. Fund raisers make sure wine and hors d’oeuvres are available and that researchers are eager to talk about their work. Many of the scientists have figured out ways to make the events especially fun for kids, such as showing them how to pull the DNA from a strawberry.
Results: Ms. Feasey says she sees signs the effort is paying off, with both small donors and big ones. What’s more, she says, people who participate in the events help steer other potential donors to the center. “The more they connect with the research, the greater the understanding, and they become advocates for more support,” she says. “They become the greatest connectors.”
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