Too many organizations today continue to be guided by the burn and churn mindset reminiscent of the bad old days, when donors were viewed as readily expendable. Easily and cheaply replaced by inexpensive new donors drawn from a seemingly inexhaustible acquisition pool.

Given the rising costs of acquisition and falling retention rates, it surprises me how many organizations still haven’t received the memo. They continue to focus mainly on acquisition while pretty much ignoring the proper care of their most valuable asset – their current donors.

It’s apparently a lot easier to sign a purchase order for another acquisition campaign than to bother saying ‘thank you’, or work a bit harder to give proper recognition and offer memorable experiences to those who’ve already contributed.

In my experience this is especially true in those organizations that blindly apply the selection criteria of Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value (RFM) to their appeals and communications programs.

Forget the fact that a donor may have given to the organization for 20 years. In a blindly applied RFM system, if the donor has failed to renew or contribute for the past 12 months (or 18 or 24 months) she or he is tossed into the RFM Dumpster and labeled ‘Lapsed’. Destined to receive little more than a flood of ‘reinstatement’ packages, re-purposed and likely paid for out of the acquisition budget.

Apart from the sheer indecency of this process, what’s lost is a massive amount of both good will and money. Lifelong donors are cut off from communication, discarded as no longer useful. Victims of some Idiotic Fundraiser whose apparent mantra is ‘no good deed should go unpunished’.

This shouldn’t happen. Ever. Loyal, long-term donors deserve far better.

And so it was with great rejoicing that I stumbled across a marvelous example of ‘how to treat donors superbly’ while browsing through the online Exhibit Halls of the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration.

(As an aside, if you’re not yet familiar with this fundraising treasure trove called SOFII, I urge you to get with it and pay a visit today. There’ll you find choice examples of the best our breed produces. Great campaigns. Great letters. Terrific techniques. Inspiring insights. It’s the world’s greatest combination of fundraising attic and swipe file.)

There in the Exhibit Hall, restoring my faith in our trade, was a case study of a remarkable donor appreciation campaign undertaken by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.

A few years ago the organization decided to do more for its most loyal members; those who had been with the organization for 20 years or greater. Even better, they decided to give special attention to members who had let their membership lapse.

Audubon launched a ‘don’t-worry-about-it’ forgiveness program for 20+ year members who hadn’t renewed their membership. Instead of tossing those once-loyal folks into the RFM Dumpster, each donor received a carefully written note on one of Audubon’s note cards featuring a bird.

The note thanked the member for many years of support and gently suggested that perhaps the membership renewal might have slipped his or her notice. But not to worry. The note went on to indicate that Audubon understood how important protecting birds and their habitat was to this member. And because the organization didn’t want the long-time member to miss out on important programs and information, his/her membership was being extended for another year – FREE OF CHARGE!

Yes, free! Included along with the note was an updated membership card.

Then the unexpected happened. Lapsed members began sending in their member dues at the regular rate of $45, and a number of them sent in additional contributions, often at $100 or more.

So successful was the program that Audubon extended it to other segments and began sending the handwritten cards to lapsed members who had ‘only’ been with the organization 10+ years.

Fasten your fundraising seat belt. An astounding 50% of those responding contributed more than the $45, again including many gifts of $100 or more.

Talk about a donor-centered organization. If you want a blue ribbon example of a group that walks the talk, that cares more about donors than the value of their money (or where they fell in the RFM Dumpster ), pin this on your bulletin board.

An Agitator raise goes to the creators of the effort – Jeff Hall, Senior Director of Advancement at Rhode Island Audubon and Gayle Gifford of the Cause and Effect agency in Providence, Rhode Island.

What special steps are you taking to recognize and reward your loyal, but now-lapsed donors?

Roger

P.S. An additional Agitator raise also to Sharon Cresci, Donor Relations Manager at Rhode Island Audubon, for devoting a day each month to carefully craft those notes to each donor.