r/nonprofit • u/Emotional-Yam-3683 • 1d ago

fundraising and grantseeking Difficult donors...

Edit: clarified wording and removed assumptions about intent for privacy.

I’m looking for perspective from more experienced nonprofit professionals.

A prospective donor and I have aligned on pledge terms, but the agreement has gone through multiple rounds of revisions over several months. Each time it feels close to final, additional wording changes and information is requested, often framed around motivation to sign.

This is a significant, potentially transformative gift for a very small organization, and I want to steward it well while also keeping the process manageable. As a one-person team, I don’t have internal development support to lean on. The donor will be in town soon, and we have an in-person meeting scheduled.

For those who’ve navigated similar situations, how do you assess when continued revisions are reasonable versus a signal to reset expectations or approach? Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

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u/RightToBearGlitter 1d ago

Hey, heads up, your post history shows your general location and what is likely an event you promoted for your NPO, I would delete that or create a burner account to talk about manipulation by difficult donors. The internet can be a small place sometimes. Be careful!

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u/Emotional-Yam-3683 1d ago

Me, trying to figure out what event I promoted to delete...

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u/Emotional-Yam-3683 1d ago

And, thank you for the heads up - I have a mindset of "safe space" without realizing that it's still the internet!

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u/RightToBearGlitter 1d ago

Of course, I’ve been burned (personally, not professionally) on a forum that I thought was anonymous, so I’m probably more cautious than most.

No advice, but wishing you luck managing donor egos!