Donor vs Fundraiser Fatigue
I might have been on vacation these few past days — The Agitator gives one day off for each year of service — but part of the deal is that I was still required, between gin & tonics, to do my daily scan of other fundraising blogs.
One post that caught my attention was Jeff Brooks commenting about ‘donor fatigue’.
As usual, calling a spade a spade, Jeff nailed it, arguing there’s no such thing as ‘donor fatigue’:
“What we sometimes identify as “donor fatigue” is really fundraiser fatigue.
It happens when fundraisers get tired of their own messaging. Unwilling to enter our donors’ worlds, we stay in our own heads.”
Fundraisers stuck in a daily routine get bored, so they start fiddling around with the message — got to re-awaken those sleepy donors.
But for their part most donors aren’t swimming in the fundraisers’ total immersion world … instead, they’re dipping their toes in the cause/charity water every now and then. And when they do, consistency, familiarity and repetition matters.
How many readers have had a control package that worked for years? I have. I do believe there’s something to be said for occasional ‘freshening up’ of delivery, but not change for the sake of change.
One thing I know a donor never tires of hearing is how, concretely, their giving is making a difference!
So, whose fault is it actually when response rates drop? Donors … or fundraisers?
Most of the time, I’ll pick fundraisers.
Tom
P.S. Bad fundraising can wear out even the most committed donor. I guess we could call that ‘donor fatigue’ … but we can scarcely blame the donor, as we should learn from the UK brouhaha regarding over-solicitation and other donor abuse over the past three months.
4 responses to “Donor vs Fundraiser Fatigue”
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Welcome back from vaca, Tom. So here’s my theory about “donor fatigue.”
Donor’s aren’t fatigued if they love the organization. Donor’s aren’t fatigued if what they receive is curious and interesting and donor-centered and…. Donors aren’t fatigued if fundraisers do their jobs well.
But yes…. donors are fatigued when they continue to receive newsletters and solicitations from organizations they don’t care about… And donors are fatigued by wondering why they continue to receive stuff from these organizations.
Donors are fatigued by lousy fundraising that is organization-centered and rather tedious and not particularly curious or interesting or…
The traditional understanding of donor fatigue was probably invented by lazy fundraisers who are doing work by rote – and wonder why donors aren’t responding. Ah yes, it must be donor fatigue. Donor fatigue was probably invented by bosses and board members who don’t know much about good fundraising. Donor fatigue was definitely invented by lousy fundraisers who aren’t donor-centered or customer-centered…. And need an excuse (for their bosses and boards) about why people aren’t sufficiently educated to send money to the worthy cause!
It’s winter in New Zealand isn’t it? Lots of …. snow?
On the point about controls that work forever … ours has worked, virtually unchanged, for over 20 years. This is despite many dozens of tests, edits, format changes and design makeovers.
David Krear
What Simone said. All of it.
Agree in spades with all of you. There’s one organization here in San Francisco that has used the same control for at least 20 years — to the point it makes me smile whenever I receive it. The commonly accepted definition of donor fatigue is one that attributes it to receiving too many appeals. I believe some uncomfortable board members invented that idea, because they didn’t want to be on the hook for asking folks for money repeatedly. It made them uncomfortable. So, voila! They’re good guys because they’re worrying about the donors becoming too fatigued!
It’s nonsense, for the most part. Donors are tired of nonprofits who talk incessantly about themselves. Who urge donors not to give to the programs they’re passionate about, but to “unrestricted giving” only. Who message donors only when they want something from them; rarely letting them know how awesome they are or providing them with information that may be useful to them. That’s tiring, indeed.