Donor Care is Key

As we all know, charities have been in the spotlight recently for all the wrong reasons, due to the actions of some fundraisers and their agencies. We may feel that much of this coverage is unfair and it is tempting to batten down the hatches and hope it will all blow over, but the current storm affects every charity that raises funds from individuals. Far from being a threat, we should see the current criticisms as an opportunity to review how we interact with our donors.

The main complaints against fundraising charities have focussed on some specific areas, namely:

• Aggressive approaches on the telephone
• Over-mailing people
• Selling or swopping supporter data
• Targeting vulnerable people

This is the time therefore to review how you engage with your donors and how you can make your fundraising operation more donor focussed and less sales driven. It may mean that some things will need to change, but it is possible to do this and in fact the best fundraising charities have for many years allowed their donors to define the relationship - in other words respecting their rights not to be phoned if they so choose and to limit the number of mailings they receive.

All this makes complete sense from a fundraising point of view. If we respect our donors, they will respect us and be more likely to continue their support.

The key point is for fundraising charities to take a relationship approach with supporters. Yes, this may mean missing out on some sales driven income in the short term (and it is surely the pressure to raise funds here and now that has driven some of the worst practices), but in the longer term this approach will certainly reap rewards, not least in legacies received from loyal donors who have been well treated and valued over many years of support.

Our donors are of course real people not just numbers on a file. They have feelings and needs, not least to be respected. A key measure in reviewing how we deal with them is to think "would I be happy for this charity to treat my mum as it treats its donors?" If the answer is yes, you have probably got things about right. If not, you may need to make some serious changes to how your organisation deals with people. Not only is that the right thing to do, but in the longer term, it will also benefit your organisation too.