Given the significant and ongoing decline in giving households and the increasing competition from that shrinking market share from a growing number of nonprofits, advancement leaders need to reallocate resources to support these emphases.
- Look at Donor Retention. Obsess about donor loyalty. Just don’t look at the number of donors from year to year. That can mislead you into believing you’re doing a better job than you are. Look at the persistence of giving year over year. Reach out to lapsed donors and humbly seek to understand why you lost them. Even if you can’t change their minds, you can improve your retention strategies by learning from those you lost.
- Become a higher priority for your donors. Don’t assume that your organization is their top philanthropic priority, even if they are your most loyal donors. Find out where you stand in their priorities and how you can move up, not at the expense of other organizations but by better satisfying their philanthropic objectives. Don’t compete with their favorite causes, seek to come as close as you can to approximating them.
- Raise your donors’ sights by documenting the impact of their giving, then projecting how additional investment will yield an even greater return on their future investments. Don’t pull numbers out of the air; cost out promising initiatives and put carefully crafted budgets in front of them.
- Reengage recently lapsed donors. Many didn’t cease to be philanthropic; they just moved off the institutional giving grid to engage in more direct giving to friends, neighbors, and local causes. They want to give to those they care about, what they can be a part of, see for themselves, and where they can witness the differences they made. Try to provide that for them.
- Attract new donors by offering high-impact initiatives that align the causes and purposes to which they have given the most.
Adherence to these emphases in this order will yield the best and most sustainable results. Trying to attract and retain most donors these days with annual funds and giving days is like fetching water in leaky buckets. The promising results they appear to create will prove short-lived without these other efforts.
Jim Langley is the president of Langley Innovations. Langley Innovations provides a range of services to its clients to help them understand the cultural underpinnings of philanthropy and the psychology of donors and, with that knowledge, to develop the most effective strategies and tactics to build broader and more lasting communities of support. Jim has authored numerous books, including his most recent book, The Future of Fundraising: Adapting to New Philanthropic Realities, published by Academic Impressions in 2020.
Related Resources:
- Webinar: 4-Step Process for “Reimagining Fundraising Operations”
- The Power of Building Relationships: Why Donors Need Good Fundraisers
- Boomer Giving Vs. Millennial Giving: Myth-Busting Facts
- Dollars Up, Donors Down: How You Can Buck the Trend