2 min read
Breaking Down the Silos: Why Your Development Team's Lack of Communication is Hurting Your Donors
Jeff Schreifels : September 2, 2025

I’ve been having the same crazy conversation over and over lately.
Just last week, a Director of Major Gifts told me, “Jeff, I have absolutely no idea what our direct-response team is doing.” The week before, a Mid-level Giving Director confessed they hadn’t spoken to their Major Gifts colleagues in months. And yesterday? A direct-response manager admitted they had no clue what the mid or major gifts teams were doing.
This has to stop.
Here’s the hard truth: While we’re busy protecting our turf and working in our comfortable silos, we’re failing the very people we claim to serve – our donors. Every time we fail to share critical donor information across teams, every time we neglect to coordinate our strategies, we’re essentially telling donors that our organizational structure matters more than helping them move through the donor pipeline.
Let me paint you a picture of what this looks like from the donor's perspective. Mary has been giving $1,000 annually through direct mail for five years. She recently received an inheritance and is ready to make a transformational gift. But because your mid-level team doesn’t talk to your major gifts team, no one notices her increased giving patterns. She’s stuck in the direct-response track while yearning for a deeper relationship. Eventually, frustrated by the lack of personal connection, she takes her transformational gift elsewhere.
This happens every single day.
The irony is that we all say we’re donor-centric. We attend conferences about it, we put it in our mission statements, we preach it in our meetings. But when push comes to shove, we retreat to our departmental bunkers, clutching our donor portfolios like treasure maps we’re afraid someone might steal.
Here’s what needs to change:
- Establish weekly cross-functional meetings.
Not monthly, not quarterly – weekly. These don’t need to be long. Thirty minutes where direct-response shares trends, mid-level discusses donor movements, and major gifts highlights capacity changes. Information is power, but only when it’s shared. - Create unified donor records.
I’m still shocked by how many organizations have different databases for different giving levels. Your direct-response team should know when a donor meets with a major gift officer. Your major gift officer should see every piece of mail that donor receives. Technology exists to make this happen – use it. - Celebrate collaborative wins.
When a donor moves successfully from direct-response to mid-level to major gifts because teams worked together, make it a big deal. What gets celebrated gets repeated. - Remember why we’re here.
We’re not in competition with each other – we’re partners in helping donors experience the joy of giving. When we hoard information, create unnecessary barriers, or play political games, we’re not just hurting our colleagues; we’re preventing donors from making the impact they desire.
I challenge you to examine your own organization. Are you truly working as one development team, or are you a collection of independent kingdoms? Are you sharing insights that could help a colleague better serve a donor? Are you breaking down barriers or building them higher?
Our donors deserve better. And deep down, you know it.
It’s time to act like it.
Jeff
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG TODAY!
Posts by Tag
- Fundraising (66)
- Major Gifts (51)
- Relationships (41)
- Donor-Centered (35)
- Major Gift Officers (35)
- Management (34)
- Communication (31)
- Leadership (30)
- Strategy (29)
- Culture of Philanthropy (28)
- Personal Development (28)
- Donor Communication (24)
- Planning (22)
- Asking (21)
- Accountability (18)
- Donor Relations (17)
- Non-Profits (16)
- The Veritus Way (16)
- Moves Management (15)
- Philanthropy (15)
- Cultivation (14)
- Donor Pipeline (14)
- Giving (14)
- Professional Development (14)
- Stewardship (14)
- Meaningful Connections (13)
- Non-Profit Leadership (13)
- Non-Profit Management (13)
- Relationship Fundraising (13)
- Strategic Plans (13)
- Donor Conversation (12)
- Mid-Level (12)
- Passions and Interests (12)
- Teamwork (12)
- Development Directors (11)
- Mid-Level Donors (11)
- Permission-Based Asking (11)
- Strategic Plan (11)
- Structure (11)
- Caseloads (10)
- Donors (10)
- Frontline Fundraiser (10)
- Goals (10)
- Gratitude (10)
- Major Donors (10)
- Burnout (9)
- Donor Retention (9)
- Mid-Level Program (9)
- Mission (9)
- Mid-Level Officer (8)
- Pipeline Development (8)
- Self-Care (8)
- Trust (8)
- Boundaries (7)
- Donor Attrition (7)
- End of Year (7)
- Impact (7)
- Planned Giving (7)
- Stress (7)
- Touch Points (7)
- Year-End (7)
- Coaching (6)
- Connection (6)
- Culture (6)
- Major Gift Planning (6)
- Qualifying (6)
- ROI (6)
- Caseload Value (5)
- Director of Major Gifts (5)
- Discipline (5)
- Donor Database (5)
- Performance (5)
- Qualifying Donors (5)
- Year-end Fundraising (5)
- Change (4)
- Communication Methods (4)
- Donor Engagement (4)
- Donor Goals (4)
- Donor Meetings (4)
- Donor Offers (4)
- Donor Visits (4)
- Employee Retention (4)
- Ethics in Fundraising (4)
- Evaluation (4)
- Goal Setting (4)
- Growth (4)
- Hiring (4)
- Joy (4)
- Making a Difference (4)
- Metrics (4)
- Mid-Level Programs (4)
- Motivation (4)
- Organization Structure (4)
- Research (4)
- Self-Awareness (4)
- Small Non-Profits (4)
- Summer Planning (4)
- Thanking (4)
- Board Meetings (3)
- Board Training (3)
- Board of Directors (3)
- Bold Asks (3)
- Collaboration (3)
- Donor File (3)
- Ethics (3)
- Facilitation (3)
- Fear (3)
- Focus (3)
- Honesty (3)
- Impact Reporting (3)
- Job Characteristics (3)
- Leaders (3)
- Managers (3)
- Membership Programs (3)
- Passion (3)
- Personal Growth (3)
- Perspective (3)
- Priorities (3)
- Relational Fundraising (3)
- Starting a Major Gifts Program (3)
- Upgrading Donors (3)
- Value Attrition (3)
- Year-End Giving (3)
- Attrition (2)
- Authenticity (2)
- Budget (2)
- Budgeting (2)
- CEO (2)
- Capacity (2)
- Change Management (2)
- Confidence (2)
- Curiousity (2)
- Diversity (2)
- Donor Criteria (2)
- Donor Interests (2)
- Donor Journey (2)
- Donor as Mission (2)
- Donor strategy (2)
- Economics (2)
- Email (2)
- Equity (2)
- Failure (2)
- Fundraising Non-Profits (2)
- Giving Societies (2)
- Insight (2)
- Integrity (2)
- Learning Mindset (2)
- Major Gift Pipeline (2)
- Managing (2)
- Mid-Level Donor Program (2)
- Mid-Level Fundraising (2)
- Money (2)
- Money over Relationships (2)
- Objections (2)
- Organization (2)
- Organizational Structure (2)
- Portfolio Management (2)
- Process (2)
- Racial Justice (2)
- Reflection (2)
- Reporting Back (2)
- Results (2)
- Retention (2)
- Self-reflection (2)
- Showing Impact (2)
- Silos (2)
- Storytelling (2)
- Time Management (2)
- Training (2)
- Transformational Gift (2)
- Transparency (2)
- Writing (2)
- donor relationships (2)
- work life balance (2)
- Acquisition (1)
- Alignment (1)
- Analysis (1)
- Analytics (1)
- Anxiety (1)
- Appreciation (1)
- Assessments (1)
- Attitude (1)
- Average Gifts (1)
- Beliefs (1)
- Big gifts (1)
- Board Members (1)
- Brainstorming (1)
- CFO (1)
- CRM (1)
- Capital Campaigns (1)
- Client Corner (1)
- Communication Preference (1)
- Community (1)
- Conflict (1)
- Consultants (1)
- Control (1)
- Culture of Major Gifts (1)
- Current Giving (1)
- Customer Service (1)
- DEI (1)
- Disciplined (1)
- Distraction (1)
- Donor Acquisition (1)
- Donor Calls (1)
- Donor Experience (1)
- Donor Handoff (1)
- Donor Pipeline Stewardship (1)
- Donor Preferences (1)
- Donor Value Attrition (1)
- Donor management (1)
- Economics of Major Gifts (1)
- Emotional Triggers (1)
- Encouragement (1)
- Estate Gifts (1)
- Executive Directors (1)
- Finance (1)
- Fundraising Ratio (1)
- Giving Behavior (1)
- Giving Drivers (1)
- Giving Goals (1)
- Influence (1)
- Introduction Cycle (1)
- Kindness (1)
- Large gifts (1)
- Long-term Value (1)
- Love (1)
- MGO Characteristics (1)
- Mail (1)
- Meeting Preparation (1)
- Meetings (1)
- Mega Donors (1)
- Membership (1)
- Mentoring (1)
- Mr. Rogers (1)
- Net Revenue (1)
- New donors (1)
- No (1)
- Non-Profit Fundraising (1)
- Non-Profit Leaders (1)
- Optimism (1)
- Overhead (1)
- Paradigm Shift (1)
- Patience (1)
- Performance Evaluation (1)
- Perseverance (1)
- Philosophy (1)
- Pipeline (1)
- Preparation (1)
- Prioritizing (1)
- Problem-Solving (1)
- Prospecting (1)
- Questions (1)
- Reasons for Giving (1)
- Relationship-based Fundraising (1)
- Responsibility (1)
- Return on Investment (1)
- Revenue (1)
- Revenue Goals (1)
- Revenue diversification (1)
- Sales (1)
- Saying No (1)
- Service (1)
- Significance (1)
- Social Justice (1)
- Soliciting (1)
- Spirituality (1)
- Spirituality of Fundraising (1)
- Success (1)
- Summer (1)
- Support (1)
- Teams (1)
- Thank You (1)
- Tiering Donors (1)
- Tips (1)
- Tradition (1)
- Transactional Giving (1)
- Truth Bombs (1)
- Vacation (1)
- Vision (1)
- Volunteering (1)
- YMAD (1)
- education (1)
- knowledge (1)
- relationship building (1)
- relaxation (1)