This post is Part 4 in a series about donor centric approach in fundraising. Click here for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
You’ve gotten a first gift from a new donor (or another gift from a current or lapsed donor). You’ve said “thank you.” So now what can you do to encourage your donor to deepen her relationship with your organization? Once again, it’s time for donor-centric language in our communication.
Too often, the first thing a donor hears from us after making a gift (and hopefully being thanked) is, “There’s another problem! It’s terrible! We need more money from you!” It’s no wonder donors think (at least they act like they think, judging by attrition rates), “Well, I tried to help you once, but apparently that didn’t do anything so I guess I’ll look for another way to fix this problem I care about.”
Yes, the job of a fundraiser is to raise funds. It’s also the job of a restaurant to serve me food; but the ones I go back to again and again serve up more than food – they offer a friendly smile, welcome me, thank me for coming and even engage in a bit of chit-chat. No, they aren’t telling me anything profound, but they are making me feel like a valued part of their business model. I’m not cooking, washing dishes, setting up tables or even folding the napkins into fancy shapes – but I feel like the reason they are in business, at least for that particular moment, is because of me.
That’s why we have to tell our donors what they made possible, beginning with the thank you letter as described in a previous post. That’s why we send out newsletters the way our donors want to get them (and that means some are mailed). We aren’t content with saying, “Well, they can go to our website and read all about what we do, and there’s even a great video they can watch!”
And that’s why we remind our donors that “You’ve seen how it works.” We help them remember the great feeling they had when they found out that their $25 meant a mom and her children had a safe place to sleep. How excited they were that their $35 provided an entire week of warm lunches. Why they feel proud when they see a tree, knowing their $50 planted one in the Amazon forest.
And once we remind them that they really did make a difference, we invite them to do more. It’s not that they didn’t do enough in the first place, but that they did such a great thing – and they can keep on doing it! They remember the story of what they did, and they want to write the next chapter.
It’s pretty hard to feel good about helping meet a year-end goal or strengthening an organization’s infrastructure. But really making a difference for someone or in some place – a tangible difference – now that makes me feel proud. And I like that feeling. So I think I will give again so I can keep experiencing that good feeling.
The previous articles can be read here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.