Who Loves You The Most?
I mean, apart from me and Roger?
Seriously, looking at your nonprofit’s donor base, from highest gifts at the top to ‘average’ donors at the base of the pyramid, which donors have shown you the most love. And to be clear, I’m suggesting here the best measure of ‘donor love’ is donor continuity … retention. “Donor love’ in this discussion is what they give you, not what you give them.
So, assuming you identify your longest-term, most loyal donors — at various giving levels — what do you actually know about their motivation for giving … the all-important ‘Why’ question.
As Roger’s post yesterday, Simple Isn’t Easy, suggested, there’s so much value to unlock in your donor base by really understanding why your donors have actually given. I’m taking that a step further by urging you to study closely your longest-standing donors, at every giving level.
I’m reminded of the importance of doing this by Chris Davenport’s most recent Movie Monday video, How to increase your fundraising and annual operating revenue, in which fundraiser Ian Adair underscores the importance and profitability of seriously engaging your nonprofit’s most committed donors. Take a look; it’s only about three minutes. [And for that matter, become a regular viewer of Chris’ excellent Movie Mondays series!]
If you really know why your lovers love you — How? By asking! — you will not only further secure their giving by asking, but gain invaluable insights that can help you engage with far greater impact with other similar donors. In addition, those conversations about why they ‘love’ you should be captured, yielding powerful, heartfelt videos and testimonials that you can use directly to inspire other donors.
Moreover, if you yourself need a bit of re-inspiring (we all do get a bit jaded), I don’t think I could suggest a more rewarding exercise than engaging one-on-one with some of your most committed donors.
So, what are you doing to identify and learn about who loves you the most?
Tom
One response to “Who Loves You The Most?”
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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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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Wonderful post Tom. Getting direct info from your donors as to why they donate (or don’t) is incredibly valuable information.
Here’s part of why donors like taking surveys and giving your nonprofit feedback:
https://imarketsmart.com/top-10-reasons-why-donors-like-taking-donor-surveys/