Donor Fatigue

I was recently in Massachusetts on business and had to hire a car service to take me to the airport for my 6am flight. As Joe, the driver, and I bonded over our pre-dawn coffee, he asked me what I did for a living. When I told him I was a fundraising consultant, he had a lot to tell me about fundraising from the perspective of a small business owner in a small community.

Joe works with a specific organization every year on their annual fundraiser, donating a car and driver to transport volunteers. He was happy to make that donation, even though for a small business like his, it counted as a fairly large donation. Joe sees it as his responsibility to do what he can for his community. That's the kind of story that makes a fundraiser like me happy to be in a car in a strange town at 4am. But then he told me that this year, the organization had called him at the last minute, asking him to donate an additional 3 cars and drivers for the event effectively putting him out of business for the entire day. Joe's standard donation was already a stretch and he felt like this request showed a complete lack of appreciation for his donation and for the size and nature of his business.

Hearing this story, I can see both sides. On the one hand, if the non-profit was really stuck, it would make sense to go to an existing donor and see if he can help. But on the other hand, I can see why Joe felt affronted. In his words, "it wasn't just that they asked, and put me in the uncomfortable position of having to say no', but that they had this attitude that they were doing me a favor, or that they couldn't imagine I'd be unable to do it". He said that the experience left a bad taste in his mouth, not just with that organization, but with charitable giving in general.

This story stayed with me as I worked my way through a second cup of coffee at the airport. The worst thing I can hear from a business owner is that he or she had a bad experience as a donor. These stories make my stomach churn, because as fundraisers, our ability to do our jobs is directly linked to the charitable contributions of individuals and business owners in our community. And every negative experience that a donor has decreases the likelihood of future participation and support.

So I thought it was time to review some of the basics in nurturing our donors and avoiding donor fatigue. All fundraisers and non-profit executives know these things, but it never hurts to have a review

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