What your donors aren’t telling you
- Sun, June 26 2011
- Filed under: Fundraising essentials
They aren’t saying this, but they might be thinking it.
1. They’re unhappy. Customer experience guru John Goodman told me a fascinating fact this week: there are two industries in which people are often unhappy with service but don’t complain much: health care and nonprofits. Just because you’re not hearing disappointment doesn’t mean your donors are pleased with you.
2. They’ll vote with their feet. The number one reason donors stop supporting a charity is the way they were treated by the charity: a lack of gratitude, no clear understanding of the difference they made, endless solicitations.
3. They want you to do better. They want to be acknowledged, involved and informed. Treat them better—it’s the single best thing you can do as a fundraiser. Keep the donor you have and you won’t have to worry so much about finding new converts. A little gratitude goes a long way.
Comments
Is there a document that supports John’s statement of fact? It’s not that I doubt it but, as someone working at a non-profit community health center (nonprofit + healthcare), I’d love to read more on this and share it with coworkers.
I’ve felt for a long time that we only meet the stated requirements for recognition when it comes to appreciating our donors and believe we could get so much more out of them if we were better able to move them from contributors to collaborators.
Alberto,
I checked with John and he said that for serious problems the nonprofit non-complaint rate is 75%.
The health care rate is 85%.
He has published articles on both of these. If you need citations, feel free to email.
Katya