Dancing With Donors
I just read a delightful musing about giving, written on 101 Fundraising by The Whiny Donor. It’s titled How Far Do I want To Go With You? and boy did it strike a chord with me. I urge you to read the whole piece … I’m sure your head will be nodding in agreement.
But then you’ll probably be disappointed that The Whiny Donor didn’t, at the end, tell us how best to woo her. And it’s clear that there’s no easy answer. But I’ll take a stab at that.
She writes of a variety of personal experiences she’s had being fundraised, how they struck her, and how/why she responded (or didn’t).
Here are her concluding comments …
“So, there are competing impulses on my part: on the one hand, I want to fly under the radar so that nothing is expected of me. On the other, I’m very likely to respond positively if I’m noticed.
“But there’s a hierarchy to my giving, so to some extent, I won’t be moved too far no matter what a nonprofit does. I’m on a couple of local nonprofit boards, so my largest gifts go to them, with the others falling in line behind them. There are about a half-dozen in the middle to which I feel pretty much equally committed, and this is where a more personal approach probably makes the most difference.
“But I still want to say, “Look. There’s only so much potential here, and you’re one of my middle-of-the-pack charities.” Your attention will flatter me, and I’m likely to respond. I’ll dance, but I’m wary of leading you on, wary you’ll come on too strong.”
I’ll bet this applies to each of us as a donor or prospective donor.
Where’s the line between ‘flattery’ (likely to respond if noticed) and ‘coming on too strong’?
Most of what Whiny Donor wrote about involved the follow-up efforts of various charities with whom she had made (sometimes only incidental) contact.
I guess what is to be commended is that in these situations, at least the charities had the good sense to capture some contact information! They get points for that.
Then they delivered a variety of donor experiences … some welcome, some mishandled, some effective, some not.
And doesn’t this bring Roger’s point about understanding donor identity and his emphasis on delivering and measuring positive donor experiences and seeking individual feedback into sharp focus?
What each of the charities who engaged with Whiny Donor can control is the quality and tone of the follow-up experience they offer in that first re-encounter. If it’s positive, at least they have a fighting chance for another dance or date. And even better — if they’ve indeed offered a feedback opportunity (something other than an ‘ask’) — they can listen carefully to the donor.
What else can they do? I don’t know. At the end of the ‘first date’, the charity has the lead … and they can handle it with grace and attentiveness. They can at least be memorable … positively. But then the dynamic shifts back to the donor … they are in control, and they might resist despite your bouquet.
How much should you persist in the courtship? Ideally, you’ve asked for, and received a direct cue from the donor … and should proceed (or not) accordingly.
If not, I don’t know the answer. Most organisations would probably stalk poor Whiny Donor until she complains to the Fundraising Police. Not good for the organization. Not good for Whiny Donor. Not good for fundraising in general.
Anybody got a better answer?
Tom
5 responses to “Dancing With Donors”
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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The other day I called a donor who’s been making multiple gifts every month. I’m new in my position at my organization so I’ve been reaching out to donors to thank them and introduce myself. I thought this would be a fun, friendly phone call with someone who loves us. As soon as I told him who I was and the name of my organization, he hung up on me. The organization I work for hasn’t been big on contacting donors in the past. As far as I know, he’s not been called at all, which is a serious problem. However, the passion with which he hung up suggested that he fully expected to be asked for money and nothing else. After all, we haven’t talked to him, and every organization who has talked to him has only bothered him for money (I’m assuming). I’m a young fundraiser but I’ve been rejected before. It’s just that I’ve never had someone swipe left on me so quickly who obviously believes in our cause. Everything about his donor profile suggested that we were a match made in heaven.
Your post made that experience come more into focus. I realized for the first time that I don’t have to worry only about my own blunders (or the blunders of fundraisers at my organization who who came before me). I have to overcome the ugly expectations established by every loser boyfriend my donors have had before. That’s a horrific thought. What do I do if other organizations are salting my game before I can even start playing?
I wonder: Could we crowd source from donors (as all of us are) the REAL reasons why we give. If we had enough response, it would be at least interesting, if not statistically valid.
I’ll go first.
I make monthly donations to a youth service in Vermont that gets people off the streets and into stable lives. I met them because they attended my webinars. So I learned about the high quality of their work by reviewing their stuff. I make monthly donations to a water charity based in WA because I met the DoD and admired his thought process. He’s since moved on, but I still support them (ah, monthly giving!). I give to a Planned Parenthood affiliate because my wife is the board chair. I have a bequest in my will for my university because my degrees from there moved me far up the socio-economic ladder (and I wasn’t even all that ambitious). I give annually to a face-fixing charity (not Smile Train) because I met one of their volunteers at a workshop, and she asked. I annually sponsor a child at a school in Uganda because I met the founder at another workshop and was struck by his conviction and personal story. I give to a social justice organization that fights for the poor in MA because I taught them at a workshop and I grew up in MA and my dad worked in a factory all his life.
Starting to see a trend? I am.
I make monthly donations to the organization I work for, because it’s the right thing to do as a staff leader and because I believe in the mission. I make monthly donations to the local arts organization on whose board I serve, because it’s the right thing to do as a volunteer leader and because their programming brings me such joy. I make monthly donations to my local public radio & TV stations because I learn more from their programming than through any other source. I make a gift each year to the YWCA because I’m a woman of color and that organization speaks to & for me. Together, my husband and I are about to make a multi-year gift to Pride Foundation, because their mission is so vital and I love & admire the young development professional there (who is so smart). My husband and I also sponsor a child through a Catholic organization, because my husband’s a good Catholic boy and I’m a (slightly) guilty former Catholic, and because our own daughter grew up with so much support from us and others in our community of friends. And I give to my professional association because it has nurtured my work and colleagues have kept me going when I wanted to throw up my hands and leave the nonprofit world to join the circus.
I’m more of a monthly than a one-off donor too. I’ve just had to cancel most of mine due to a change in working circumstances, but I did donate monthly to Oxfam because I believe we have a duty of care to people in developing countries. I believe a lot of the privilege we enjoy comes at the expense of exploitation of others, so it’s partly to assuage some guilt! I donated monthly to Amnesty because they give people a voice who otherwise are pretty powerless. They were associated with a comedy gig at the comedy festival here a couple of years ago and their speech really struck me that we’re extraordinarily lucky to be able to get up on stage and criticise our politicians etc. without being thrown in jail so I thought it was a worthy cause to support. I donated monthly to Greenpeace because I think they do great work and I’m more of a donor than an activist so I was happy to help in that way (a bit of assuaging guilt again!). I give monthly to the organisation I work for because it’s the right thing to do and I believe in the work we do. Recent one-off donations (I do occasionally give one-off) include a donation to ChildFund because they write what I think are the best appeal letters around. Even though I know exactly what they’re doing with their letters, they still persuade me! I often sponsor friends, even ‘facebook’ friends (i.e. people I’m not particularly close to) because I’m happy to support a good cause that someone else is advocating for. I probably wouldn’t donate directly to most of those causes though. I help run a charity that sponsors children to go to school in Kenya so I donate to that because I’m passionate about helping the kids we support. I donated to a local charity that supports people who are homeless and struggling for their Christmas appeal because it struck a chord at that time of year. I sometimes donate to disaster appeals because I know that people are in desperate need of help at that particular time. I’ve donated to help people in Syria because of the awful situation they find themselves in. So for me, it’s not normally a personal solicitation (apart from sponsoring friends), it’s more of a feeling of trying to help improve a situation.
Sometimes too much knowledge is dangerous – dangerous for the not-for-profit trying to upgrade a fundraising professional’s gift. We know exactly what they are up to, expect them to follow through with a prompt thank you and if they don’t, woe betide them! We know when we are being wooed, we don’t fall for flattery and if they do receive a gift from us then we really do want to give to them.
But when it comes to the commoner (meaning we fundraisers are far from common!) then we must pull out all stops to encourage a second time gift and then find out, as soon as possible – maybe via a survey or phone call, depending on the size of the gifts – what the donor wants and expects. That way the dance will continue until the lights go out.