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A harsh reality most fundraisers don’t want to face
What donors value is often their time without you and not their time with you.
Ouch! Yep! That’s right. I said it. And I know it’s hard to take.
Sadly, as time goes on, the value your donors place on their time will only grow since the more money people have, the less time they have.
But there’s good news!
Your donors still want to make a difference in the world. They want to make an impact. They want to find meaning in their lives. And, feel good!
So, in order to combat this dilemma, ask yourself the following questions:
- How can I serve my organization’s donors better while accommodating their time constraints?
- How can I be more mindful of their time constraints?
- How can I provide more value to them so they’ll spend more time involving themselves with my organization’s mission?
- Do they want more information, transparency, or education?
- Do they want to become more engaged? How?
- Do they want to be recognized publicly? Or do they want privacy?
- How can I facilitate a relationship and partnership with my organization and our shared mission in a way that accommodates their time constraints?
- How can I serve them better and make them feel good?
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Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
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Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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Just attempting to understand what led to this statement, did it come to the fore as the result of research, either quantitative or qualitative, in which donors indicated that they wish to spend less time over time? The prevailing wisdoms and data suggests that volunteers are more likely to give, does this suggest that NPOs should not attempt to engage high-level donors as volunteers?
Hi Sophie- Thanks so much for the question. Sorry for the delayed response.
I think you might be missing the point of the article and conflating you (a person) with your organization (and its mission). I’m not saying that donors or volunteers don’t want to spend time with your organization. I’m saying they don’t necessarily want to spend time with YOU. Sorry if that sounds harsh.
You are correct. Volunteers are more likely to give and give more. And, Yes! Nonprofits should engage them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be engaged with face-to-face relationship.
Not to be repetitive but I was saying that most donors value their time without you (not the organization and its mission) more than their time with you. I don’t need research to prove the point because… If donors wanted to be with YOU so badly, you’re phone would be ringing off the hook and you’d be booked with back-to-back donor visits.