Building a relationship of equals

‘The adviser should play the role of an educator or a coach in supporting the decision-making of the donor,’ says Marcos Kisil of IDIS (Brazil). As more and more donors, especially substantial ones, want to be more closely involved in their giving, there has been increasing demand for the services of professional advisers to provide the ‘coaching’ that Kisil is talking about. But advisers don’t have godlike impartiality. In addition to knowledge of the sector, they bring their own values and preconceptions.