Breaking Down the Silos: Why Your Development Team's Lack of Communication is Hurting Your Donors

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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