Olive Farmers Can Teach You About Fundraising

Olive farmers pick olives in two ways.

Sometimes they thrash their trees using a rake-like tool that shakes the olives to the ground.

Other times, they hand pick their olives from the branches carefully.

Their style-choice depends — not on the type of tree, or the day, or the weather — but on the quality of the product they are ultimately seeking to create. The more gently the olives are treated the better the resulting product.

High quality table olives and oils are picked. Lower quality olive oil products are thrashed.

When you pick fundraising fruit, you have the same choice. Do you thrash with high-volumes of asks and little care placed on the relationship? Or do you hand pick with high-touch treatment and relationship building?

If you a treating high-value donors to a thrashing, it might be time to reconsider your choice.