A Minute With Rosemary Oliver, Fundraising Director, Amnesty International Canada

“One of the new investments we made was hiring a person on staff to do recovery calling of lapsed monthly donors (declines/cancels). They phone four or five days a week from our office. This initiative cut down our first-year attrition of new monthly donors by 10 percent. This has a significant impact on our return on investment. It might not be big and flashy, but this old-school technique is certainly paying off.”

“Our biggest fundraising challenge right now is the banking and credit card system. A decade ago you were guaranteed almost 100 percent fulfillment of sustaining gifts. Today that just isn’t so. New regulations and PCI compliance make it increasingly difficult and more expensive. It is a huge challenge for nonprofits and charities. Adapting to rapidly changing rules is costing additional money every year, and it is money that should be going to our life-changing human-rights work.”

“If I could do one thing differently it would be to spend less time on the mechanics of fundraising and more time with the donors. I would love to have a deeper understanding of our donors’ motivations. I would like a better understanding of how they view our fundraising programs, and not just how we do.”

“Because we are Amnesty International, we start with an ethical and honset approach to our fundraising philosophy. Whenever we made a mistake, we let the donor know right away. Mistakes happen, but being up-front and honest builds trust. We are trying to have a long-term relationship with our donors. We make decisions based on what we want the relationship to look like three to five years from now, not necessarily what makes the most sense today. We need donors with us for the long term if we’re going to achieve our human-rights goals. They should feel like partners in our work — no matter how much, nor how little, they give.” FS