Question: What do 3x5 cards and computer screens have in common?

Answer: Both can keep you from connecting with the heart of your donor.

Have you ever seen a grown man cry? I have -- well, almost. It was a salesman who dropped his box full of 3 x 5 cards containing many years of client contact history. Scores of clients and years of history, all in a mess on the floor; his callback dates no longer in the right segment of the box.

The modern-day version of this is a computer crash or a stolen laptop. But in reality, our donors don't care about our technology; they care about being known as people. Any system should be about knowing the donor's heart.

In today's computer-based world, as we type away on the keyboard and mouse click from screen to screen staring at the bits and bytes of information, everything we could possibly want to know about a donor can be staring us in the face on one screen. With Internet-based software better known as an Application Service Provider (ASP), we can access this data from anywhere we can find Internet access. We could actually "dial up" our organization's Web site using our modem-based Palm Pilots, and have up-to-the-moment donor data in front of us just prior to walking in to the donor meeting. As we are ushered into the donor's office, we thank him for his gift yesterday evening that he made online.

Wow, that's connection you say! Well, not so fast…in fact, it's just information. It would be far more powerful if our Palm Pilot could scan the donor's heart and see what has changed about what they are passionate about lately. Is it still true that they are excited about our mission's organization? Of course, Palm Pilots can't do that, and that's a good thing, because that's our job as fund raisers. We "scan their hearts" with our conversation that is sprinkled with great questions that tell us what's important to them.

Any good computer system is capable of tracking donor data about last gift dollar amount, date of last gift, number of gifts, etc. The problem is that all of this information can trick us into thinking that we are in touch with the donor's heart when, in fact, all we're really in touch with are the hard, cold facts. We didn't get married to our spouse because of the facts; we got married because there was a heart-to-heart connection.

Many years ago, in the pre-computer era, good fund raisers were connecting with the donor's heart. All they had were letters, the telephone and file folders to keep data up-to-date and to establish relationships. Today, despite all the connectivity at lightning speed from anywhere at any time, we need to be sure we have not lost touch with the intent of the technology, which is to help us connect with the heart of the donor.

Walt Wilson, author of The Internet Church, says this: "Contact information is now essential to create a sense of community. Computers are not about computing but about connecting people with each other."

In similar fashion, our information systems need to show us data that allows us to connect with the heart of the donor. Why did they give us a gift? What was it about our organization that they were passionate about? Where was the "vision match" between our mission and their vision? We're there to discover and connect with the heart of the donor; without a heart-to-heart connection, there will not be a gift of significance, and certainly not one that is repeated. When we really connect in a heart-to-heart way, we establish a deep bond with the donor that is strong and long-lasting.

Recently I sat for dinner with a couple that was giving $100,000 per year over a 10-year period to a particular project. They were passionate about that to which they were giving their resources. Somewhere in their past, someone from the non-profit organization had made the connection with their heart. Connections like these don't come from surface data about donors, they come from the fund raiser discovering what makes the donor's heart beat faster.

Wes Willmer, vice president of university advancement at Biola University, in his new book God & Your Stuff tells us that there is a "vital link between our possessions and our soul." If we work in a faith-based agency, our role is to help the donor discover that link. So, whether the gift is $20 or $20 million, the key to asking for a gift is finding something the donor cares about.

Mary Anna Dunn, senior vice president for development at the University of Colorado Foundation, said that when she approaches prospective donors, she tries to discover their passions. When she's talking to alumni, Dunn asks about their fondest memory of CU. "You find out what they care about, what they remember from the heart," she said.

Yes, it's the 21st century, and donors can receive an e-mail confirmation of their gift just seconds after they give online. That e-mail, however amazing, does not connect them with a warm and friendly voice that says "thank you" and asks how their children are doing. Most people do not need to be convinced of the power of a computer system or of the Internet's power as a relationship building tool. Let's ensure, however, that any technology we implement is "technology with a heart." So the next time your computer network is down...just pick up the phone and connect heart-to-heart with your favorite donor partner…they'll be thrilled you called!

Greg Leith is vice president of sales and marketing for ViServ, an Application Service Provider.