Are Your Donors Unconscious?
Many nonprofit organizations think they can "all of a sudden" take a database of former supporters that haven't been contacted in a long time and ask for a donation. There may nominal results in the effort, but in most cases the donors are probably "unconsious." When I say unconscious, I mean that the donors are "not conscious" in the sense of being currently informed or engaged in the mission of the nonprofit organization.
Picture this: It's kind of like a horror or science fiction movie where bodies are lying along the street in the downtown of a city. The people are not dead, they have just passed out from a mysterious gas. They are breathing but not showing many other signs of life. This is the state of many former supporters or donors of a nonprofit organization. The horror show becomes real to executive directors and CEOs when there is little return on a letter of appeal for support.
The reason for the "unconsiousness" is not the donor's fault. It most cases the organization has failed to stay in contact, inform, and build value in the donor and the donor's dollars. There is no "consiousness" in the donor mind of what the organization is doing.
The good news is that a donor can be brought back to consciousness, or even better, never go into an unconsious state to begin with. Donors have very busy lives. They will probably care and show their care of our mission if we respectfully keep them informed in a way that is not overbearing. This can be accomplished through many means such as a newsletter that shares life-changing stories concerning the results and impact of your organization.
It is wise for us to earn the right to ask for a donation by being respectful and forthright with our donors through communication means that allow them to be informed and have the value of their dollars be on display through testimonials, etc.
