Is Donor Fatigue Even Real?
If you’ve worked at a nonprofit for more than a few weeks… you’ve probably heard a colleague complain about “donor fatigue.”
It’s an uber-common nonprofit term for “No, we shouldn’t send that email/call/text/social post etc.” because of fear that the donor has been asked to contribute to your org too often and they are going to be turned off, bigtime!
But, it’s often an excuse.
A crutch to not taking action.
Moreover, it’s often not even true.
We live in an endlessly content-inundating world with pings, beeps, voicemails, full inboxes, and so on… Getting the attention of your target audience (ahem, the donor), is arguably more challenging than ever.
That donor is distracted.
They’re homeschooling their kid, working full time, sleeping less, scrolling on their phone more, and just keeping it together as best they can.
So, when you choose to say things like, “Nah, I’m not going to send another email about joining our Monthly Giving Program because I sent one last week,” you’re giving up.
Click to download!
You can call it donor fatigue if you want, but that’s not really the truth.
Getting people’s attention is challenge #1, but then asking them to take action (aka make a donation) is the even bigger challenge.
You’ve got to be willing to do more (adjust your content frequency), speak louder, bolder, and in an interesting way.
Translation: More social media posts, more frequent e-mails, bolder subject lines, interactive questions, and of course… follow up!
I’d rather have 10 new contributors to your Monthly Giving Program at the “expense” of a few folks unsubscribing to your email list or unfollowing your Instagram account. That should be a no-brainer.
Unless you take those unsubscribes personally (which you shouldn’t!).
So, now what?
Take a wider-view of your next online fundraiser:
What is your social media, e-mail marketing plan for the fundraiser?
How are you announcing the campaign online?
Is it fun or compelling?
Will your community be excited about it?
Are you using excited images and graphics to support your appeal? (Hint, hint: Canva is your BF here)
Have you created an easy content calendar for the launch?
If it’s feeling a little ‘meh’ you’ve got some brainstorming to do! None of what I’ve listed above requires a team of ten or a budget of thousands. It requires some creative thinking, commitment, and planning.
If you’re willing to do those three things, you’re next online fundraiser will S-H-I-N-E!
If you’re still stuck on donor fatigue being “REAL” for YOUR organization, I’ll end with this:
If you are going to the same group of people over and over again asking for contributions to various programs and services each month… Yes, that is too much. Your problem there is likely your pool of donors is TOO SMALL. It’s likely friends, family, and board members.
You need a broader group of donors to diversify your appeals. Work on developing a specific group: Major donors, younger individual donors, or some other target audience that is in line with your vision. Cultivating those relationships NOW will allow your org to ditch the donor fatigue and scale year-over-year.
You’ve got this!