The Power of Personal Relationships
Written by niki juhasz
Key Takeaways from This Blog
The Power of Personal Touch: Stakeholders – including board members, sales partners, and conference attendees – consistently value one-on-one interactions (calls, texts, personal emails) over mass marketing like newsletters or social media.
Data-Backed Results:
Donors are three times more likely to give again after receiving a personal note.
Referrals from friends make people four times more likely to engage/buy.
Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone.
3 Actionable Ideas:
Video Thank You Notes: Use tools like Google Meets to send quick, personalized video messages to supporters.
Personalized Story Sharing: Forward specific impact stories or media hits with a direct note to individual partners or donors.
Beyond Annual Reports: Build ongoing trust through live impact dashboards, quarterly video check-ins or small advisory groups.
Most Important Point: In an increasingly automated world, human connection is a competitive advantage for child and family advocacy organizations.
As part of our client partnerships, we conduct research. This looks like stakeholder interviews, surveys, full communications audits… you name it, we’ve likely done it.
Every now and again, we see a trend emerging. And this is one of those times.
Over the past couple of years, we’ve heard more and more about the power of personal relationships.
Here’s what we’ve learned – and what to do about it.
Our Findings: Personal Relationships Are Queen
The way we engage – from the rise of AI robots to fewer in-person relationships – has been changing for years. The result? People are craving real, human connections. Here are just three examples of how we’re seeing it in child and family advocacy:
The board example. We recently conducted a survey about how board members want to hear from a foundation. What we heard, over, and over, and over again is that board members value one-on-one communication from the executive director the most. While the communications team works hard putting together full board booklets and sending monthly newsletter updates, the board members cited welcome-to-the-board coffee with the ED as one of the most valuable touchpoints. They’re more likely to answer a call or read an individual email from the ED as well.
The sales example. We’re working with an education-focused nonprofit that’s starting to sell more to school districts. We conducted phone interviews with existing and prospective partners to learn about what they value in the sales cycle. EVERY person we interviewed said that the nonprofit’s team members are one of the deciding factors in why they chose to work with the nonprofit. They said individual conversations, emails, calls and text messages are worth significantly more than social media, newsletters and the website combined.
The conference example. We wanted to get more first-time signups for an association’s conference, so we created personalized toolkits and talking points for speakers and organization leaders. The team then used these materials for personal touchpoints – making people feel less like they were seeing conference marketing and more like they had a human reason to attend! The result? More first-time attendees than ever before!
In each example, the personal touch makes a major difference.
More Data: The Power of the PersonaL
We could name a dozen more examples from our recent work. However, don’t just take it from us. Several research studies support our findings that personal connections are more important than ever. Here are just a few data points:
Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy research shows that trust is critical in leading to support.
Nielsen data says that people are four times more likely to buy when referred by a friend – and people are more likely to refer to you when you have a strong relationship.
NextAfter Institute research found that donors are three times more likely to donate again if they receive a personal note on how you used their specific contribution.
How to Incorporate the Personal Into Your Work
If you’ve been reading our newsletter for a while, then you *know* we’re not going to stop with the data. As always, we’re sharing ideas for what to do with it, too!
Video thank you notes. Record a quick video, personally thanking a donor or supporter. Use their name and let them know what you’re using their donation for. (No need to download new programs. We often use Google Meets to record quick video messages.)
P.S. This isn’t just for donors. Did you recently work with a policy influencer on new legislation? A parent advisory council to get a budget passed? Thank them, too. We *all* want to feel that personal connection right now.
Forward a story with a personal note. People remember information when it’s related to a story up to 22 times more than when you share facts alone. Forward along one of your stories, and make it personal for your supporters.
This can be quick. For example, it can be as easy as saying: Brenda, you recently shared a generous donation with us to help new parents read to their babies. I thought you might like to “meet” Courtney, who went home from the hospital with five books and a rocking chair. You made it possible! Thanks again for your support.
Pro tip: you can do the same thing with media hits, too.
Again, this isn’t just for donors! Think about your coalition members, business partners and supporters you want to keep in the loop.
Move beyond the annual report. We know building trust is critical. Regular touchpoints build that trust. Here are a few ideas:
Offer quarterly 15-minute video calls directly from program staff to show real-time progress and hurdles.
Provide a Live Impact Dashboard, through which you update your progress in real time.
Invite major supporters to internal planning sessions or town halls, where staff discuss upcoming challenges.
Create small advisory groups where donors can provide feedback on a specific new initiative. This isn't just about their money; it’s about their time and talent.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
You know your organization, your supporters and your team the best.
We recommend chatting with your team about what works best for YOU to make your communications even more personal.
Don’t forget to check in with your team about capacity. If you’re adding a new task to their plate, work together to reprioritize their workload to avoid burnout.
Start with just one or two new tactics.
Then, track what’s working and where you can update your strategy.
You’ve got the sparkling personality, passion for the work and smarts to show the robots up – and make very real connections with your supporters.
Now go show them why your shared work *matters.*
You’ve got this.
About the Author
Niki Juhasz leads smart communications campaigns at Forthright. She often leads Forthright’s research projects. Since joining Forthright, she’s helped place a question about child poverty into the presidential debates, led award-winning school district campaigns and transformed dozens of interviews and research stats into compelling narratives.
