And The Band Played On
As Roger wrote last Friday, commenting on the latest Fundraising Effectiveness Report, the nonprofit sector is losing donors faster than it’s gaining them.
I’d put it more bluntly … we’re on a sinking ship.
Hey, but it’s only a slow leak. At an annual net loss of ‘only’ 3%, it will take us nearly 35 years to entirely empty the bucket. Most of today’s senior fundraisers will be dead and buried well before then. But you younger ones might want to move on to selling bottled water … that’s where the growth is.
I wish there was as much excitement about the hard work of retaining donors as there seems to be about having fun on Giving Tuesday!
One more message or blog post or webinar about Giving Tuesday and I’ll gag … or weep.
The latest one, from MobileCause promoting a webinar (smart people who should focus on important stuff, like retention), enthuses:
Giving Tuesday Playbook Topics Include:
- Taking advantage of national publicity and momentum
- Empowering social media ambassadors
- Making it easy for new donors to participate
- How to use crowdfunding to gain new donors
- Building relationships with local businesses
- Utilizing a matching fund
- Leveraging Facebook, Twitter and Instagram networks
Talk about warped priorities. Get your net growth rate in the POSITIVE column first, and then go leverage Instagram to your heart’s content on Giving Tuesday.
And here’s a hint … you’ll have a far better chance of moving into the positive net growth column if you give a higher priority to curbing retention than to chasing new donors.
But I guess we need a band to play on as the ship goes under.
Any last requests or dedications? A photo with the band, to post on Instagram?
Tom
3 responses to “And The Band Played On”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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I’d like to pose for the photo, Tom. What’s an “Instagram?”
Although I have mixed feelings about GT, the reality is it’s a six figure day for us, and the level of effort is very low. It’s certainly not an initiative that takes time or money away from our retention efforts.
So true! too many organizations try to jump to new and sexy forms of fundraising before making sure they’re ready to make the most of the new relationships that may happen. It’s a little like just eating gravy and skipping the meat and potatoes. Let’s make sure we have the basics in place (ie plans to retain the donors we have) – then organizations can play around with other activities that may or may not help bring in long-term sustainable revenue.