Take a Deep Breath

A common concern I hear goes something like this: “We mail our donors far too frequently, and I get all these complaints.”

Let me challenge you to use some of your extra time this summer collecting donor complaints. Collect them for an entire month, say July or August. Then analyze those complaints and categorize them by type: remove from mailing list; concern about message content; questions or complaints about your programs, etc. Determine who’s complaining about mail volume or asking to be removed from your mailing list by looking up giving histories. In every such review I’ve been involved with, I’ve found that the complainers overwhelmingly are deep-lapsed donors or non-donors who got on the data file.

When you have a proper perspective of your work, and when you view donors as the people they really are with an abiding interest in your cause, you can begin to consider how to greatly expand your fundraising efforts. And the summer months give you a perfect opportunity.