Great Fundraising Organizations, by Alan Clayton. Book cover.

Do we ask for too much from donors too often?

It’s an old and often-debated question and the answer varies depending on what kind of organisation is doing the asking and the target audience’s wants and needs.

I’ve been speaking with marketers and fundraisers this week about this very problem.  The background is the ubiquitous Christmas appeal with this particular charity receiving a wide range of feedback from their target audience.  On the one-hand the fundraising team received thank you notes for the good work the charity does along with donations.  One example comprised a handwritten note asking them to "please accept the enclosed cheque for £1,000".  From a £25 ask, you can see why they are happy that some donors are so keen to support their cause.

On the other hand, they hadn’t received as many complaints as previous campaigns and were pondering whether this was a positive indicator regarding their efforts.  In my experience, it may well be a positive indicator but, like many measures we use, it probably doesn’t tell the whole story if we only look at this indicator in isolation.

Advertisement

Great Fundraising Organizations, by Alan Clayton. Buy now.

We need to understand more about our audiences’ wants, needs and preferences before we can make any firm decisions on our communications.  As proof, here is an excerpt from the same charity’s online forum:

"I am wondering if someone out there knows something I do not.  Like, have I won the lottery, premium bonds or what.  Do I go round throwing my money, whatever I have, around.  I know it’s coming up to Christmas, but my letter box is crammed full of begging letters every day.

And what do you do with all the ones you receive?  I don’t want to sound mean, but I just cannot afford to donate this or that amount every month… Some years ago, I did send a donation to the XXXXXXX and ever since I’ve been inundated with begging letters from them.

Do you think I am being mean?"

Does this look familiar?  As individuals, are we feeling any differently?

Clearly, not every recipient of the Christmas appeal is as keen (or able) to support the campaign as the generous donor above.  The groundswell of support this individual received (ie; no, you are not mean…) from subsequent posts was interesting in that it was supportive of their view but did not go as far as to denigrate this charity.  Rather, there seemed to be an acceptance that all charities need to fundraise in tough times but it would be great if they could do it in a way more targeted at the individual.

Incidentally, there were also lots of comments about direct mail practices, with ‘crap gifts’ and ‘making me feel guilty’ featuring as major turn-offs.  This is a big enough subject for a future blog and backs up the Institute of Fundraising’s current stance on stamping out negative practices.

Unless we are communicating with very small groups of people, it’s incredibly difficult to get any message and media mix 100% right.  We also need to acknowledge that we are in the midst of a major financial recession so people are tightening their belts more than previously.  As a result we may need to adjust both our expectations and activities accordingly.

Notwithstanding these common-sense considerations, here are a few suggestions of actions we can all take to get as close as possible to the right message and media mix:

Kevin Baughen is the Founder of Bottom Line Ideas, a regular speaker at NFP events and a volunteer for Cancer Research UK.

Loading

Mastodon