Years ago I happened on a Forbes article describing 5 Ways to Make a Killer First Impression. LIke a bolt of lightning, it struck me: It’s not only prospective employers or on matches who form an instant opinion of you! It’s also true for prospective philanthropic supporters. You should be dating your donors! Were you…
Details
Giving is an emotional experience. It deserves an emotional response.
Be human.
Ever notice how sometimes when we put on our work hats we cease to be human? How we somehow morph into little robotic “professionals” and become enamored of jargon?
“Lybnts.” “Sybnts.” “Recaptures.”
Not that those things aren’t important. You need goals and objectives.
And given the dreadful state of donor retention in the U.S. today (and in the U.K and Canada as well), it’s vital you be able to measure how you’re doing. Because growth in giving is a factor not just of how many new donors and dollars you acquire, but also of how many donors and dollars you lose.
If you lose as many current donors as you gain new ones, you’re getting nowhere. Fast.
Slow down.
Think about what you’re doing and why. You may need to change your frame of mind.
When you acquire a new donor, is it for that one-time transaction? If so, that’s not a very thoughtful strategy, because it costs more money than you make to acquire new donors. In fact, you likely won’t make back your investment for 18 months or so. You won’t make it back at all if you don’t renew that donor.
Nonprofits, sadly, have been on a non-stop treadmill. Donors in. Donors out. Donors in. Donors out. So… something about just measuring this stuff isn’t really working.
Details
Really, donors definitely want to rock and roll with you. It brings them joy and meaning!
Yet, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s doubtful you’re rocking along with your donors unless you’re making robust use of your donor database for this purpose.
In other words, you must make donor engagement and retention a TOP priority.
Retention lives or dies in how effectively, or not, you use your database to support your relationship-building, loyalty-driving efforts.
If you think of your database as a largely undifferentiated mailing list, you’re not going to realize your potential to:
Really, I just can’t bear to think of you not maximizing return on your investment.
And that won’t happen unless you focus on donor lifetime value.
And lifetime value will be very, very small — unless you retain and upgrade donors over time.
