What does good engagement and communication with your major gift prospect community look like in the COVID-19 era? Ask your donors

This paper will share findings from a piece of research undertaken by the advancement team at the University of York (UoY) into the needs, interests and concerns of its donor community in the context of the global pandemic. This research helped to shape the ways in which the university’s advancement team and senior leadership colleagues continued to fundraise for UoY’s first institutional campaign. Although particularised to UoY, the paper focuses on two key transferable points: those of the importance of gathering insights from your donor community during a time of great challenge and uncertainty and how gathering around a virtual table is not as limiting as we might have anticipated. The paper aims to share some of the learnings from the research undertaken by the advancement team and to encourage advancement professionals to put your donor community at the heart of your case for support. It will provide insights into how colleagues at UoY have continued to engage, cultivate and steward their donor community despite the challenges posed to fundraising for higher education.