Do They even know me?
Recently, I found myself in a fundraising conversation with my closest friend (we’ll call her Jill). It wasn’t intentional, she honestly forgot that fundraising was my day job outside of the parenting routes that I run daily. Either way, we found ourselves talking about it because while we were on the phone she received an email from an organization asking her to give money AFTER she received multiple calls from the organization asking her to give. Jill was upset! She found herself no longer want to give to this organization because she was tired of being asked. Her biggest question was, “Do they know I’m in grad school right now?” She promised herself that after she achieved a certain level of success she would give back to those who truly made a difference in her life, she just needed time. It was time that this organization did not provide nor was trying to find out.
Now we didn’t spend the entire conversation bashing the organization, because Jill soon learned that she could take accountability and advocate for herself a little more by informing the organization herself. Which I think is great! Because one thing fundraisers are NOT, is a mind-reader. However, we can build strategies around getting to know donors better. From Jill, she simply wanted options to do it now or later and that be the end. She preferred later, so with that in mind, it gives the organization a chance to build a relationship and position itself as the premier organization in her mind to facilitate her philanthropy.
However, this is what the organization ACTUALLY did…
Text and images have been altered or redacted to preserve those involved.
Let’s take a moment and evaluate in hopes that you spend more time getting to forming relationships with your donors.
Issue #1: Addressee and Salutation - You can’t see it, but her salutation was labeled with “Title. Last Name.” It is okay to place the donor’s first name on their communication. Especially, when you are working towards building a culture that says, “We know you and we hear you.”
Issue #2: Transparency - Don’t say a “representative.” Tell them exactly who contacted them and be honest. When I explained to Jill that these “representatives” were student callers, it caused a mindset shift.
Issue #3: Merge Errors - It is always unfortunate when this happens and mistakes do happen. Just be sure you are triple checking your work and lay as many eyes on your documents as possible.
Overall, the organization is not wrong for following up with their student callers and working hard to ask and capture gifts not received or lapsed donors (donors that gave some year/last year but not within the current fiscal year). I believe it was just a missed opportunity to dig deeper into the people who plan to support your organization.
Photo credit to unsplash images
So why is this important?
About-Loyalty recently released a study that found that people are more than 60% more likely to give when they experience commitment, satisfaction, and trust. Those three drivers consistently deliver the best returns in forming positive supporter experiences, developing supporter retention, and increasing income (About-Loyalty Report).
When I read the loyalty report, it made me think of the most heartwarming part of my conversation. It happened when Jill shared:
I don’t care about having my name on a mural, I just want to be able to help kids that were in the same situation as me.
Whew…
On that note, please continue to get to know your community of advocates. The list of lapsed donors is growing across organizations and it’s because we are forgetting how to feel and connect. Yes, we have fundraising goals to meet, but we are meeting them with each other.
If you feel like it’s time to turn your relationships around at your organization, I hope you check out our new webinar, Intro to Donor Relations. It’s a great way to gain an introduction to building relationships that flourish and can sustain your organization.