THE DONOR-CHARITY DYNAMIC

Transcription

1 THE DONOR-CHARITY DYNAMIC

2 As costs of acquiring donors rise and rates of donor retention fall, a wise charity or cause owner will consider the question what do donors want? Nearly three out of four donors stop donating to an organisation after their first donation (Barry, 2014). Without work on donor retention, its rates look set to fall to below 20% in the next decade (Barry, 2014). There can be various costs associated with donor acquisition, from chugger s fees to mass direct mail campaigns if the initial outlay of these costs isn t met by a donor s contribution, the outlook is bleak for a non-profit organisation or charity. Some particularly damning literature states that a newly acquired donor s first year s worth of donations only pays for the fee of the chugger that signed them up (Quigley, 2010). High costs of donor acquisition coupled with low rates of donor retention make it important for organisations to consider their relationships with their donors, and be aware of what they want. People are growing to expect convenience in take online banking and online shopping for every area of their lives, and donation processes example. Punching credit card details into a cannot afford to be any website is simpler than different. If an organisation s donation methods IF AN ORGANISATION S cheque, and a more sure writing and posting a aren t fast and convenient, DONATION METHODS AREN T way of capitalising on an its supporters will impulse than rattling a FAST AND CONVENIENT, be less likely to donate. coin bucket at passers-by A desire to do good in ITS SUPPORTERS WILL BE carrying only the first place helps, but cards. It is also where LESS LIKELY TO DONATE. the availability and functionality people turn in the face of of channels a disaster for example, through which to do so affect whether this desire half of relief giving following Hurricane Katrina to give is converted into gift of a donation. occurred online (The Case Foundation, n.d.). People may be willing to be generous with their Online giving popularity is only growing, and money, but less so with their time which is looks set to become a mainstream avenue of where capitalising on the impulse to help charitable giving just as online banking and becomes important (The Case Foundation, n.d.). shopping have entered the mainstream in their This happens when people are asked to drop a sectors (The Case Foundation, n.d.). Donors couple of coins into the bucket being held by a want speed and convenience, and online giving collector on the street, but with the advent of delivers. credit cards people rarely carry cash. It also secures only a one-off donation rather than Once the first donation has been secured, a donor retention and a regular contribution. two-way conversation between donors and a Donors want to be able to donate easily, and charity or organisation is a way to connect and without a way to do so, animpulse ascertain what the donor to help may not wants. A survey can be a DONORS WANT SPEED become a donation. good place to start, particularly in order to determine AND CONVENIENCE Online giving is seen as an what type of dialogue a donor ideal option for donors in a hurry (The Case is most likely to engage in. A person who never Foundation, n.d.). Doing tasks online is meant checks their s may be better reached via a to be a way to save time and simplify tasks Facebook page, while another might prefer to

3 just follow an organisation s Instagram. Though many channels of communication have the potential to be great, the light an organisation is seen in isn t going to be a With a varied and well-planned online communications programme, an organisation can keep in touch with its donors and share successes. It is motivating for a donor to see that favourable one if a representative is bombarding a the end goal of the organ- A GIFT FROM A DONOR previous donor that has an SHOULD BE VIEWED isation is achievable. already hungry inbox. AS THE FIRST STEP When milestones and progress are shared regularly, a feeling of having IN A RELATIONSHIP, Sometimes a donor won t want to keep in touch with RATHER THAN A the power to make a the organisation they gave difference is created. BUSINESS TRANSACTION to follow-up correspondence Social media channels can be seen as an (BARRY, 2014). such as Facebook and opportunity to ask for Twitter can be used for more money. If an organisation only contacts its supporters at appeal time, it s less likely to be seen favourably than if it s in touch all throughout the year and for reasons other than to ask for money (Koenig, 2014). A gift from a donor should be viewed as the first step in a relationship, rather than a business transaction (Barry, 2014). The relationship will grow stronger the more the donor is given opportunities to learn and care about the organisation and the outcomes that it achieves. acknowledging donors and celebrating their contributions. Also, when donors are treated as the heroes by the organisation that they gave to, it ll make them more eager to give again (Pitman, 2014). Donors want to feel like their contribution will help the organisation over a finish line, rather than that it is facing an uphill fundraising battle (Andresen & McKee, 2010). Regularly sharing successes through social media and celebrating donor contributions can foster this feeling. Donors want to feel like they can help, and that their contribution will make a difference (Andresen & McKee, 2010). They want to knowwhat they can or have fixed, which can become clear with a programme of regular and positive communication. If a problem seems endless, people won t be Donors want to be confident that their money is making a positive impact on the issue that they gave to support. It is this impact that is seen as the strongest factor affecting donors trust in charities (Framjee, 2013). When an organisation s web content (whether on social media or motivated to help by donating IT IS MOTIVATING its own website) sends out their money (Andresen & this type of information that McKee, 2010). If an organisation FOR A DONOR the donor wants to know, it focuses solely on their TO SEE THAT is likely to keep them once-yearly appeal communications rather than sharing THE END GOAL OF (Allen, 2000). Rather than engaged and interested success, the feeling of a THE ORGANISATION assuming that the community only wants to give, an never-ending problem will be IS ACHIEVABLE. created. However, with regular organisation needs to be updates of progress aware that donors also want shown to all donors, no matter the amount of their contribution, the feeling of having helped to know about the successes their contribution has helped to achieve. will grow.

4 Donors want to know about the impact that their donation has, but few want to read an organisation s annual report (Koenig, 2014). A glossy annual report Donors do not want to visit a charitable organisation s website every day. It is unlikely that it will feature alongside news sites and social media as a website sent by direct mail also AN ORGANISATION S that they engage has the potential to be with regularly (Sage very expensive, and can PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA Nonprofit Solutions, eat into the funds that IS IMPORTANT FOR 2010). An organisation s presence on have been donated in ENGAGING WITH the donor s hope of helping social media is important a cause. If an annual report is a mainstay of an ITS COMMUNITY. for engaging with its community. If Facebook organisation s communications with their database, it is much more effective to use it to connect with donors on an intimate and human level, rather than to send out a document of statistics (Koenig, 2014). Research shows that the donors of large amounts of money respond well to receiving a rundown of an organisation s and Twitter is well-used by an organisa- tion, the messages being sent out are in a space the potential or proven donor already is, giving the opportunity to engage with them at any time rather than only when they ve decided to visit the organisation s website. statistics, and small donors do not (Sunstein, 2014). It s suggested that for warm-glow givers, a narrative that puts the impact into a human context is more effective and better received than a statistic-focussed annual report (Sunstein, 2014). For the majority of donors, a conversational report with a narrative of The purpose of fundraising with a focus on donor retention, is to garner a community of givers, rather than gifts (Goecks, Voida, Voida, & Mynatt, 2008). With consideration of what donors want comes a stronger relationship between the donor and the cause successes is a more enticing read, and will be a sought-after bond in this time of more likely to coax them into engagement. donor-retention crises. PUT ALL OF THIS INTO PRACTISE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AN IMPULSE BY MAKING IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO DONATE OPEN A DIALOGUE WITH YOUR DONOR BY ASKING THE BEST WAY TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THEM SHARE THE SUCCESSES, NOT ONLY THE ASKS - DONORS WANT TO FEEL THAT THEY RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

5 REFERENCES Allen, N. (2000, June). Fundraising on the Internet: Using and the Web to Acquire and Cultivate Donors. Grassroots Fundraising Journal, 3-5. Andresen, K., & McKee, A. (2010). Homer Simpson for Nonprofits. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from Network for Good: ebook.html Barry, F. (2014, January 6). One Thing Most Nonprofits Stink at (Donor Retention) and How You Can Change It in Retrieved June 12, 2014, from npengage: Framjee, P. (2013, April 22). Fundraising costs are not a measure of a charity's effectiveness. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from The Guardian: Goecks, J., Voida, A., Voida, S., & Mynatt, E. D. (2008). Charitable technologies: opportunities for collaborative computing in nonprofit fundraising. In Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp ). New York: ACM. Koenig, M. (2014). Never Write Another Annual Report. In npengage, Show the Love: Thoughtful Engagement to Retain Supporters (pp ). Blackbaud. Pitman, M. (2014). Using Social Media to Keep Donors. In npengage, Show the Love: Thoughtful Engagement to Retain Donors (pp ). Blackbaud. Quigley, R. (2010, August 27). Revealed: How fees for High Street 'chuggers' are eating up the millions you donate to charities. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from MailOnline: Sage Nonprofit Solutions. (2010). Five Myths of Online Fundraising. Retrieved June 13, 2014, from Sage Nonprofit Solutions: Sunstein, C. (2014, May 29). Large charity donors need to see effectiveness. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from Stuff.co.nz: The Case Foundation. (n.d.). Online Giving: Donors Are Younger, More Generous, and in a Hurry to Help. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from The Case Foundation: