In some ways, donor retention isn’t all that different from dating.
Just like romantic relationships, your organization’s relationships with its donors thrive on communication, appreciation, loyalty, and trust. And just like a romantic relationship, if your donors don’t know you love them, they might not stick around.
You can start building a passionate, unbreakable love for the ages by letting your donors know how much you like them. (No smooching, though. This isn’t a perfect metaphor.)
This is about more than mushiness. Showing love and appreciation to your donors addresses a very real nonprofit problem: donor retention.
Donor retention stats are not mushy at all. The nonprofit sector as whole has a fairly dismal retention rate, without much change in the past ten years. We’re stuck below 50%, so if your numbers aren’t great, you’re not alone.
That’s right: Donors are regularly dumping us.
Sure, some of the reasons donors leave are unavoidable. In these cases, it’s really not you, it’s them. Budgets shift, priorities change, and people…die (16%!). There’s nothing you can do about any of that. Some things don’t work out. You’ll never retain 100% of donors forever and ever.
But a lot of donor-organization break-ups are completely avoidable with the right communication. Donors who don’t know what their gifts accomplish, don’t know that you appreciate them, and never hear from you are going to drift. They’ll forget all about you, think you don’t need them, or fall for someone else, like an organization that actually, you know, talks to them.
What’s an organization to do, getting ghosted about half the time, and struggling to maintain donor relationships?
Get better at relationships.
I guess we could call this “cultivation,” if you insist. I like “donor love” though, because this is, at its heart (get it?) about emotions. It’s about how you make donors feel.
You can’t fake donor love. For one thing, people know when they’re being patronized, and no one likes false enthusiasm. Likewise, this isn’t a transaction in which you give a requisite amount of appreciation in return for a guaranteed amount of loyalty. “Donor love” works best when you have actual gratitude for your supporters.
If you’re feeling kind of cold about the whole thing, I get it. Sometimes when you work in fundraising, the whole thing gets overwhelmed with numbers and goals and it’s hard to connect. And sometimes (shh…) sometimes individual donors can be annoying, and make you feel sort of sour about the bunch of them. The burnout is real. You’re not a jerk if you’ve wound up in this “not feeling it” place, but you can’t afford to stay there.
I like to think about it like this: Just as no one is obligated to date you, no one is required to give to your organization.
Think about your total contributed income last year. Not a dime of that was compelled. No, all of that contributed money exists because people (including the people who make up corporations, foundations, and governments) decided they wanted to make a difference and that giving to your organization was the best way to make that happen.
Those people are awesome.
When I consider donors in this light, I get a little misty and overwhelmed, honestly. I want them to know how much I appreciate them, and what heroes they are. Getting yourself into the right heartspace will go a long way to creating an actual love for your donors, which you authentically express.
You don’t have to stand outside a window with a boombox to let your donors know you appreciate them. In fact, I really advise against this.
Instead, encourage your donors to make things long-term by communicating these important messages:
Start showing your donors the love they deserve today. Don’t let them forget you exist, think you don’t need them, or keep their connection casual. Try:
Just as you wouldn’t send the same person an identical love letter four times a year, donors shouldn’t get absolutely identical letters multiple times. You don’t have to send a completely different letter, but consider switching out stories, impact updates, and other details at least seasonally.
I feel very cheesy telling you that love is the answer. But love is the answer to donor retention, or at least a very big part of the answer. (I mean, a fundraising CRM and fundraising platform that allows you to easily communicate with supporters and activate them to become advocates is going to help, too.)
If you feel overwhelmed at the idea of crafting an entire donor retention strategy, start with love. Look for opportunities to show your donors you appreciate them, and work from there. You really can’t go wrong starting with love and gratitude.
If You Liked This Post, Try:
Donor Cultivation Tips: 4 Things You Must Do Before You Ask For More Money
Ever wished your donations could go even further? Enter automated matching—an indispensable tool that transforms…
Chances are, you know what Giving Tuesday is by now. However, it's important to recognize…
Here at CauseVox, we love a good success story. And we couldn’t think of a…
Do you ever go grocery shopping and see a product that feels like it was…
Hosting your own giving day is a powerful way to amplify your mission. At CauseVox,…
From Giving Tuesday to World Diabetes Day, giving days stand out as events that bring…