
Playing cute tricks with donors isn’t the win you think it is
I’ve been stewing about a certain kind of gift solicitation.
I’ve hesitated to write about it. But I get more annoyed the more I think about the damage these things can do.
Want some examples? This is an email I got. (Good organization; bad solicitation.) And this tactic made news in March when the RNC tried it.
I hate a request disguised as a bill. And I know, I know… I see it often enough to guess it must work in some way – but it’s all wrong.
A donor doesn’t owe you a gift, so why send an invoice?
I don’t care how important your organization’s work is, giving is a choice, not an obligation.
We should value that choice. And choice is also a powerful motivator. (Check out this article on Botton Village and the amount of choice they offered their donors.)
Don’t we want donors to affirm their choice to invest through us over and over?
Giving is more than a transaction
I think you cross a dangerous line when you go there.
Customers buy stuff. And yes, they can be extremely loyal. (Look at the line outside your local Starbucks one morning.)
But donating – giving away your money to help someone you don’t know – that’s even more powerful. You’re not selling toilet paper. You’re selling changed lives!
Fear is not something to build a relationship on
Fear can be a powerful motivator. Showing donors why their gift is needed is important.
But fear of a bill collector? That’s not nice. And how many times will it work? It might work if you’re looking for disposable donors. But is that what you’re after?
Trust is precious in fundraising
Framing a request as an invoice is inherently dishonest. Trust is a valuable resource for your organization. Is that how you want to spend it?
You may be running up against regulations
See this from the US Postal Service.
Title 39, United States Code, Section 3001, makes it illegal to mail a solicitation in the form of an invoice, bill, or statement of account due unless it conspicuously bears a notice on its face that it is, in fact, merely a solicitation.
Why risk it?
Oh, and sweet little old ladies… finding an invoice
That’s who I imagine opening some of these solicitations – and diving into their checkbooks, terrified they’ve done something wrong.
And it ticks me off that anyone would want to treat them that way.
We can do better
You don’t want donors thinking about money. You want them thinking about their values and your mission. If you put bills on their mind, it may get the envelope opened, but it won’t help you inspire their generosity.
There are so many ways to fundraise well, treating donors and potential donors like the generous, caring people they are. If you can’t make a good enough case for your organization without resorting to scare tactics, maybe you need to think about that.
What do you think? What solicitations drive you mad?
I have a question.
Many of my sponsors for my events request invoices. Many of them have given me a verbal agreement, but my event comes close and I need to somehow let them know that I have held my end of the agreement in promoting their business as a partner, but I haven’t received the donation.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Savannah,
I don’t think you should hesitate to call them. You need to know if they’ll be participating and as soon as possible. Besides, the conversation may help with developing the relationship – or tell you it’s not worth pursuing anymore. (In the future, though, I’d have a contract ready for them to sign when they agree to be a sponsor.) Let them know all that you’ve already done for them, and matter of factly request the promised payment. If that doesn’t work, perhaps there are contacts on your board you can ask to step in?
Hi Mary
I’ve been stewing over the same letters – the “we haven’t heard from you since….” and “can you exceed your previous gift” kind of appeals. Totally agree about the danger of squandering trust. What I most want to know about my previous gift is not when or how much, but what the charity did with it!
Exactly!
So very sleazy and wrong. Why would you want to try and trick your donors? What kind of relationship is that?
My ISP used to pull this stunt. I’d get these urgent sounding voicemails saying there is an urgent alert on my account and to please call back immediately. I’m thinking (did my bill not process? Do I owe money? Better get on this). Turns out they wanted to tell me about a “special offer” to add a cable plan to my internet plan. I called them out on Twitter (I’ve since stopped receiving them).
Generally, when a tactic is so sleazy a cable company will use it, I’d encourage others to steer clear.
Agreed! I’ve received similar nonsense from businesses. But from nonprofits? Really annoying. And I always imagine what it does to older people, more trusting people…
Just because it might “work” does not make it right.
Thanks, Andrew.
Thanks for this, Mary! I recently switched jobs to a nonprofit that notoriously sends out solicitations like this. It goes against my sensibilities as a development professional and makes me pretty uncomfortable overall. How do I bring this up to my boss without having her dismiss my concerns?
Well, everyone gets comfortable with what they’ve always done. That inertia may be your biggest obstacle. How is doing what they do working? Could you ask for a test of something different so you could compare?
The problem when things seem to be working is it’s hard to promise what could be. what’s your current retention rate? Fundraising like you describe is normally targeted at acquisitions – but new donors who don’t stick around aren’t good for the organization or worth the cost of gaining them. Keeping them is so important! So I would also give your boss some information about how important donor retention is. Roger Craver has a really good book on the subject that’s worth checking out. (https://www.amazon.com/Retention-Fundraising-Science-Keeping-Donors/dp/1889102539).
Hang in there – and I can tell you from my experience that sometimes change takes time – people need to get comfortable with new ideas.
I think organizations do a disservice to those that they serve when they issue “invoices” to their donors vs sending “invitations” to what are really mission investors. I can see how this would elicit the ire that it did Mary regardless of your background in fundraising. You must truly believe in the cause to raise the issue in the first place to help them (and other organizations) to avoid this pitfall. Unfortunately for this organization they may have lost many others who will never share why they left – but will remember how this outreach made them feel prompting them to leave.
Your logic on invoicing donors is certainly valid. But, what do i send a company making a sponsorship gift who asked for an invoice for thier gift? Do you have an example of this type of letter.?
Hi Warren, no, you’re right, often a corporate donor will request an invoice. Totally different thing than sending out an appeal (to individuals) that looks like an invoice, though. But there’s no reason your invoice can’t be accompanied with a very human and grateful letter, either.