A little sympathy for your donors, please!
My good buddy Gian Brosco recently took the helm of the
"Rick," he said, "I met with the head of the Salvation Army. She told me that last year's $25 and $50 donors are this year's clients!"
Sound familiar?
How is your family doing? Worried about layoffs or pay cuts? Putting off retirement another ten years? Stunned your children's college savings plans have lost 25 percent or more? Think your parents will be able to stay in their nice senior housing facilities?
Yet, I continue to receive five or six appeals every day from nonprofits that don't seem to care about me at all. I'll bet you do, too.
Some make their usual pitch as if nothing is different. One letter I received this week read:
"Normally letters like this begin by asking you to 'put your feet in the shoes' of someone less fortunate than yourself. But don't you think it's a bit false for Americans like you and me to claim we can possibly know what a Mexican farmer feels when he loses the land his family has tilled for generations?" Well, yes, some do.
Other nonprofits only write about the impact on their organizations: "The state is cutting our budget", "we have to dig into endowment", "our donations are down".
(Even in the best of times, don't lead with the woes of the organization. As famed fundraiser Jerry Panas wrote in his book Mega Gifts: "People do not give because organizations have needs, whether for renovation, equipment, or to overcome a deficit. In fact, donors run away from 'needs.' They hide from the institution that isn't financially stable.")
Others tell me, but only vaguely, how their constituencies are suffering. One of my favorite hunger-fighting organizations couldn't be any more specific than "With high food prices combined with the current economic crisis, we need your help more than ever."
No one asks me how I'm doing.
What do you see in your mind when you hear the word "donor"?
Number 1 in my workshop "
This economic crisis is touching everyone (okay, maybe not top athletes and some bankers, and Mrs. Madoff is probably still living high). You can assume nearly every one of your current and prospective donors has some financial worries, even if their problems are nowhere on a par with your clients.
Donors are never "they" and "we". Most of the several hundred major donors ($10,000 and above) I've interviewed in my career were people of modest means. Each gave for a different reason and each had a different life story.
Even if your organization's donors tend to be on the wealthier side, I promise you (nearly) all are real people. "They" are proud of their children and grandchildren, "they" go to baseball games, "they" give out candy at Halloween.
They are also facing divorces, deaths of friends and loved ones, grown children who won't leave home, and unmet charitable pledges.
To paraphrase the great Pogo: "We have met the donor, and he is us."
Ten ways to show you love me for myself
Yes, guilt is one of the great motivators, and it is probably true that you and I and everyone on your donor list is better off than the people you serve. But in this case, a little thoughtfulness goes a long way.
Here are ten options other than guilt:
1. Don't ask for contributions (at least in the foreseeable future) without acknowledging that the donor may be feeling the pinch, too. Say "We are doubly grateful" when he or she gives.
2. Institute, right now, a legacy society. In my workshop, "Bequests: The Secret Route to Your Nonprofit's Stability," I point out that fewer than 8% of Americans leave charitable gifts through their wills, the one time all of us can be assured that we don't have to worry about running out of money ever again. (According to the Partnership for Philanthropic Giving -- the former NCPG -- 58% of American adults don't leave wills at all, which is shocking. And an opportunity!)
3. Be specific how the economic downturn is hurting your clients. Remember the Salvation Army? "Our food pantry empties in three days instead of seven." "We've seen 900 more patients in the last six months for free care." "Ask our police force: domestic abuse calls have risen 73% in the town." Better yet: always tell a human story. Statistics are boring.
4. Personalize the mail every time you can. No mailing labels, no "Dear Friend."
5. Tone down the galas. This isn't the time to flaunt class differences. Tracie Rozhon gives you seven great tips in the February 29 New York Times.
6. When you see a donor or a prospect on the street, in a meeting, at a function, or elsewhere, ask how he or she is doing first, and listen patiently to the answer. I was overseeing strategic planning for a human services organization last year. Before one of the meetings I gently asked the Board chair, a successful housing contractor, how business was. We talked for the next ten minutes about his worries about his workers, families with half-built homes, and yes, his wife and children, too. He thanked me, sincerely, for asking.
7. If you've tightened your belt, tell me how, in terms I can understand. "Yup, everyone is wearing sweaters around the office this winter, but we're saving $1,600 a month by keeping the heat at 67." I'll be even more impressed if you tell me how the nonprofit is being entrepreneurial and forward-thinking.
8. Offer creative ways to give. In the February 10 Wall Street Journal, Mike Spector writes about the wisdom of starting charitable lead trusts during a bear market in "Giving Smarter While Helping Your Estate".
9. Keep the donor in the loop. Remind me regularly why your organization is so important. Specifically: e-mail me (and all your friends) at least once every few weeks to tell me something about the topic that you can only know by sitting where you do. (I'll write about that in a future e-Blast.)
10. Show hope. One of the best rules for departmental retreats is "no whining". Reassure your clients, your supporters, your staff, and yourselves that we will come out of these difficult times. It's already one of
Great time to read marketing books
Hey, if you've done all the above and still have time (LOL), read some marketing books. Read marketing books written for for-profits. they know how to take care of customers! (That's who your donors and clients are, you know.)
I keep a list of some good ones on my website. I've just added a review of Confessions of a Control Freak: How to Get the Results You Want from Your Next Direct Marketing Program. And because I care about you, this and nearly all the books I review are at least a few years old and can be purchased used and cheap, or found in your local library!
Because who can afford them new?
