Breaking the (Glass) Ceiling

Principle 7 of The Eight Principles^TM is Renew & Refresh^TM. Renewing your donors should be an equal partner with refreshing—or expanding—your base.

Susan's situation is atypical in one respect. Most of the nonprofits I see are heavily focused on acquisition. Donor retention at these charities is in the tank, as there's barely any energy or resources left for tending to their stalwarts.

The result? A continual struggle to generate anything but modest entry-level gifts—even from those who are capable of much more.

The key is a balanced effort. Seek to retain as many donors as possible, while at the same time working to build your base. In this way, there is a solid donor progression. Losing mature donors—although not something you're looking for—becomes a lot less problematic.

I recommended that she take another look. Begin by considering Principle 4 of The Eight Principles^TM, Learn & Plan^TM. Learn who would naturally support you by affinity and relationship then plan how to reach them.

Susan's organization is clear enough as to their mission. No fuzziness there. My question to her was, "Has there been a thorough vetting of how that mission is received—meaning interpreted and understood?"

This is where I believe Susan's organization could make real leaps in the size of their base. I encouraged her to examine the general demographic profile of their donors. Look beyond the organization's mission. What are attitudes and interests of donors beyond the reasons they give to her organization? Look at generational differences.

The future is in millennial giving. We didn't really talk about the age distribution of her donors but I suspect they are older, established individuals with traditional outlooks. Millennials use their faith to guide their giving, but in a dramatically different way than my generation or the generation of my parents.