One interesting issue facing any charity is donor fatigue.

What is donor fatigue?

Donor fatigue relates to donors who are worn out by the constant requests for donations and as a result lose interest in giving any further monetary contribution to the not for profit organisation.

Unless you have something special about your charity or your fundraising system, your organisation will come up against the problem at some stage.

 

Donor fatigue

 

So what can you do to avoid donor fatigue?

Here are some strategies to that will help you.  Each one requires effective and good management to be successful.  In other words, don’t go rushing in with the proposed solution.  Take the time to work it through first.

  • Avoid constantly asking donors to make a donation to each new fundraising activity.  It is actually important as part of any fundraising strategy that you ask for donations as often people want give a donation, but don’t if they are not asked.  You just need to be careful you don’t keep asking time and time again.
  • Ensure the fundraising activity relates to a genuine and worthwhile cause.  Don’t simply ask for donations every time you need to raise money for what may be perceived as a minor cause. Look for alternative ways to raise funds.
  • When promoting a fundraising activity be clear what the targets are, who you will be helping and the benefits that will be derived.  A mistake a lot of organisations make is that they promote the fundraising in way that appears the organisation will get the benefit and not the people that the organisation was created to support.  Remember, you don’t own the funds.
  • Make it easy for donors to see how donations have been used.  This is part of your accountability process. Refer to the previous post relating to accountability and how an organisation communicates with donors.
  • Make it easy for donors to make the actual donation.  For example, whether it is by telephone, website, a form in a newspaper or newsletter, make sure the steps are simple and easy.

These are some of the main issues that may need to think about when it comes to managing donor fatigue and, where possible, they should be addressed as part of your overall donor management strategy.

Remember it is easier and more cost effective to retain an existing donor than to acquire a new donor so these methods are important to understand and implement.