Are your donors giving out of fear?
I was de-briefed on some research a while ago. During one of the workshops a female donor had said that she dreaded canceling a direct debit because she knew that she’d get a phone call asking her to start again.
This fear was enough to stop her canceling. There was no enjoyment or value for her in the relationship she had with the charity. They only continued to receive her money because she did not want to go through the trauma of a reactivation programme.
As she shared this view, the other members of the group nodded in agreement. Sadly, this was both an amusing and bonding moment for them.
It was as if they had united behind her against the charity.
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That is absolutely terrifying!
k
Hi Kimberley
It is. I’m going to be publishing a complete report on lapsing very soon. It’s not the only disturbing thing we uncovered. You’ll be able to get hold of the complete paper from this site.
Hope things are going well for you.
Best wishes
Mark
Hi Amanda
I think you are right. I cancelled two DD’s way back in November and I’m still being addressed as a “valued donor”.
It’s the thinking that underlies the group’s attitude that concerns me. All had little expectation that they would be treated as anything other than a number on a list. And what was worse, was this group wasn’t a rogue one.
Thanks for sharing your views. I appreciate it.
Best wishes
Mark
Hi Andrew
Spot on!
Thanks again
Mark
I think charities need to be pro-active about this…I posted in December about a Donation Vacation…allowing your donors take a break from regular donations….Let them know its ok, that you understand. Ok you lose money short term, but long term think of what it does to your relationship with your donor. They certainly won’t be scared of you.
Hi Conor
I agree. I think donation vacations and downgrading are great ideas if finances are an issue. It treats a donor like a person. It’s an approach everyone should adopt.
The trouble is that most re-activation programmes are simply giving people a shove to get them back on board the same vehicle they’ve just tried to climb off.
Reactivation is really a last resort. Managing lapsing starts at day 1. Unless it does, donors will simply drift away.
This research wasn’t for one particular charity, so we avoided the halo issues, where people didn’t want to criticise the charity directly. As a result we could focus on why people sometimes didn’t like being donors.
But getting back to your point on donation vacations, another quote from our research indicates how that approach could be quite effective…
“I stopped and then they actually phoned me up and made me feel so guilty on the phone that I actually set it back up again. But because I know that I can’t afford it, two days later I phoned up my bank and cancelled it again. I literally set it backup just because they made me feel so guilty.”
Thanks for Commenting.
Best wishes
Mark