Are your best donors getting your worst fundraising?

25 October 2023

Are your best donors getting your worst fundraising?

Too many fundraisers are sending weak and ineffective fundraising to their major donors. The cost of that is unknowable, but it’s high. I know that because I’ve seen what happens when fundraisers change course and start sending their best work to their major donors.

The problem is, many fundraisers make a series of assumptions about major donors that simply aren’t supported by reality. Here’s what they sometimes do:

Soft or indirect asks. They hint around, afraid that being too direct will drive them away. They seem to believe that major donors are sensitive plants who shrink from strong, clear, straightforward language about giving. It’s not so! Want strong response from major donors? Make a strong case!
Low emotion. Assuming major donors are “more sophisticated” then other donors and will “see through” appeals to the heart. This is also not true, even though some major donors think that about themselves. Major donors are like everyone else: They give when their hearts tell them to give.
Complex/formal writing. Major donors tend to be more educated than others. Many are successful professionals, capable of working with a high level of complexity. But if you think this makes them unresponsive to clear, clean, readable writing, you’re missing something important: While they may be able to handle complicated language, they prefer not to. Like everyone else.
Going silent for months. While major donors tend to give fewer times per year than most donors, that doesn’t mean you should “leave them alone” for months at a time. Do you know of any relationship of any kind that goes better without communication? Keep in touch with them.

Here’s the important thing to remember: While major donors are different in some significant ways, they are not all that different from other donors.

In fact, the vast majority of them start giving as low-end direct mail donors. They rise to the level of major donors because that stuff worked for them!

When a donors upgrades to a high level of giving, they don’t suddenly morph into a different kind of person.

Posted by Jeff Brooks on 25 October 2023 at 06:26 | Permalink

Comments

The problem is, many fundraisers make a series of assumptions about major donors that simply aren’t supported by reality. Here’s what they sometimes do:

Soft or indirect asks. They hint around, afraid that being too direct will drive them away. They seem to believe that major donors are sensitive plants who shrink from strong, clear, straightforward language about giving. It’s not so! Want strong response from major donors? Make a strong case!
Low emotion. Assuming major donors are “more sophisticated” then other donors and will “see through” appeals to the heart. This is also not true, even though some major donors think that about themselves. Major donors are like everyone else: They give when their hearts tell them to give.
Complex/formal writing. Major donors tend to be more educated than others. Many are successful professionals, capable of working with a high level of complexity. But if you think this makes them unresponsive to clear, clean, readable writing, you’re missing something important: While they may be able to handle complicated language, they prefer not to. Like everyone else.
Going silent for months. While major donors tend to give fewer times per year than most donors, that doesn’t mean you should “leave them alone” for months at a time. Do you know of any relationship of any kind that goes better without communication? Keep in touch with them.

Here’s the important thing to remember: While major donors are different in some significant ways, they are not all that different from other donors.

In fact, the vast majority of them start giving as low-end direct mail donors. They rise to the level of major donors because that stuff worked for them!

When a donors upgrades to a high level of giving, they don’t suddenly morph into a different kind of person.