Donor Relations as Public Relations: Toward a Philosophy of Fund-Raising

In the mid-1970s, the late Betty Stearns vice president of the Public Relations Board, Inc., introduced me to the concept of identifying and cultivating multiple publics related to nonprofit organizations. This marked the beginnings of a professional public relations program for the American Library Association (ALA) that did more than issue press releases. That experience continued to be useful. Most recently, it helped prepare me to work with Joan C. Hood, director of Library Development and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, as we developed a multimillion-dollar campaign for library endowments. Over the years, I have found that whether soliciting and retaining members of organizations, building alumni loyalties, or cultivating donors, while techniques may differ, the process of identifying and developing constituencies is essentially the same.