A few weeks ago, a harebrained idea sprung to life in my head:

“How does a random stranger on the streets of New York City view nonprofits? How do they feel about their last donation experience?

Maybe I ought to stick a microphone in their face and ask them.”

This all started when my friend Rory Green posted this fascinating infographic on my other friend Maeve Strathy’s blog. You see, Rory had asked 1,000 fundraisers about donor stewardship at their organization, and I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the results were, well...worrisome.

To start, 93% of fundraisers said that donor stewardship is important. That’s good! 

But only 31% of fundraisers have a donor retention goal at their organization. That’s not so good.

Clearly, there’s a disconnect here.

While much digital ink has been spilled debating how fundraisers should approach donor stewardship, I didn’t see too many people giving voice to...well...donors!

Thus, my plan was born. I would take to the streets of New York to ask people waiting in line for lunch about their last giving experience.

While the answers were interesting, I stumbled across another finding that didn’t make the final cut of the video that I think is worth exploring.

Donor motivations

The underlying reasons why we give to nonprofits is a fascinating subject, and when I interviewed folks on the street, I also asked why they decided to give to the last charity they donated to.

I saw most of the classic examples of donor motivations play out. Here’s what folks told me is the reason they gave:

Guilt/Obligation 

One interviewee told me that he felt an obligation (and maybe a twinge of guilt) that motivated his gift to his favourite public radio station. As a regular listener, he felt as though he wasn’t carrying his weight as a listener without supporting the station financially, so he decided to give.

Personal Connection

Two people indicated that they gave to a veteran’s organization because they have family and friends who served in the military. They felt a personal connection to the cause through a loved one.

Empathy 

One person told me that the reason they give to a nonprofit that works with inner-city youth was because of his own personal history. He grew up in a poor neighbourhood, but now has a fulfilling career and wants to tell kids who grew up like he did that they can achieve great things too.

Every single person had a clearly defined reason as to why they decided to give. There were underlying motivations that drove them.

Based on this, we can draw a pretty powerful conclusion: these gifts were more than just money for these people. It was an earnest effort on their part to make a difference towards something they care about.

But it’s that very passion and drive that should frustrate fundraisers even more about donor stewardship.

Donor churn motivations

Just as they had specific motivations for giving, most of the people I talked to that no longer support that particular organization had motivations for churning.

And like so many failed relationships, it all came down to communication.

Those who gave a negative (or apathetic) responses to the question of “Would you give to this organization again?” all had something in common: they didn’t know how the organization spent their money.

And that comes down to a lack of communication on the part of the organization.

Thanking a donor is just table stakes these days. There are mountains of technology available that make thanking donors of all levels possible. At the very least, a thank you email or text message is expected.

But the thank you should really just be the beginning.

If we want to harness the passion that is clearly evident in donors such as these, they need to be informed of how their donation is being put to use. Again, this needn’t be a sophisticated system. A simple follow-up several weeks after the donation with a message detailing some of your organization’s recent work accomplishes this beautifully.

And for the love of all donors, do this before cycling them into another appeal campaign.

It’s easy to write-off this segment of donors as likely one-and-done donors anyway. That might be true. They’re young, they don’t possess high amounts of wealth, and they gave to a street canvasser.

But when talking to them, you can see that there are real motivations for support.

Why let that flame die by keeping them in the dark?

Andrew Littlefield is a writer and marketer for WeDidIt, a startup focused on helping nonprofits maximize their fundraising efforts through software solutions. 
twitter.com/fsuandrew 
andrew.littlefield@wedid.it