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Fundraising online. Do the basics, please. 4

Fundraising | Jonathan Waddingham | 26 Mar 2009

Recent research in the US suggests that many first-time online donors go on to make their subsequent gifts offline through direct mail.  So we should probably not bother fundraising online anymore, and stick to DM, right. Right?

I mean, getting people to register for Direct Debits is probably the only way to keep donors, at this time when long-term value is even more important than ever. But then again, DM volumes are falling for the first time in this country, and cancellations of Direct Debits are increasing.

So what can we do?

Well, we should start by going back to basics. Things like thanking people who donate to you. Yes, thanking people. Simple as that.

Everything I read in the press suggests that it’s not a particularly good time to be looking for new donors, so think about how you treat people who already give money to you.

One response to the reasons why online donors may switch offline was given on the Agitator blog – where a commenter,  Dave Raley, theorised that the reason people switch offline could be that the communication methods offline were more established than online:

Goes something like: Acquire a donor online + Poor/inconsistent/infrequent online cultivation + Good/frequent direct mail cultivation = Online donor migrates to direct mail

I couldn’t agree more. Whilst many charities have well established offline donor journeys, I’ve barely seen any with online donor engagement programmes. Very few even thank their donors – and if we don’t thank people, why should they bother to donate again?

Even more worrying is the fact that many charities don’t even thank ordinary people raising thousands of pounds on their behalf. A donor may give you £20, but someone taking part in an event or getting donations instead of birthday presents will raise hundreds, even thousands. Do you have a different way of communicating with them that demonstrates how important they are to you, that takes into account the amazing sums they raise? Do you even talk to them at all?

Are you spending all your time with your digital agency on fundraising campaigns, or on thanking campaigns? I’ve yet to see a really micro-site created with the specific aim of thanking people (although I’d love nothing more than to be contradicted here).

We can all talk about the value of social media, and how charities can use the power of the internet (and don’t worry, I’ll be writing plenty on that in due course) but if you don’t do the basics right and thank people, you may as well stick to offline comms and not bother with having a website at all.

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Who's Who: Jonathan Waddingham