Donor Communications

It is something that is absolutely crucial, but can be abused by either too much communication, or too little.

This article from Contributions Magazine examines the issue.

An excerpt.

“I’ve had recent conversations with development directors who were concerned about the possibility of overloading people with communications from their organization. What’s interesting is that the folks I’ve talked with, when asked about their actual communications frequency, invariably responded with an answer something like the following:

• “We send a quarterly newsletter -- when we can.”

• “They get a receipt every month and our magazine twice a year.”

• “We’re thinking about adding two appeals per year to our quarterly update.”

“If you make similar statements, or have questions (or qualms!) about optimizing communication frequencies for your donors, I hope you’ll consider this fundamental principle:

“People make time for the things they enjoy. Period.

“Worries about communications frequency are not the primary issue – as long as your donor communications are doing the job they should be doing in engaging the hearts and minds of your donors. In these few paragraphs I’ll show you why most communications from nonprofits to partners are simply misguided and, therefore, failing to engage their intended audience.

“First let me dissuade you of the notion that you are overloading people with communications. I've been in this arena for thirty years and I can tell you with the utmost confidence that the most serious problem for nonprofits is underwhelming their donors with their communications. And I mean that both in terms of frequency and quality. While I won't say dogmatically that every donor should have a frequency of X number of contacts per year, I can say that organizations tend to be too timid in the number of times they contact their donors.”