It’s so exciting to watch: Someone gets some solid fundraising advice. They put it to work.
Results come in: “We doubled the response!”
I hear about this a lot. Really, a lot. Doubling. Tripling. Even more.
But not always.
Now and then, someone tells me, “We followed the recommendations, and our results hardly improved at all!”
When I look into it, I sometimes see that they didn’t really follow the advice or best practices they were given. It was on the right path, but not strong enough.
But more often, the reason the project didn’t do as well as they hoped was this: They don’t have the number of appropriate donors it takes to light up their world.
It’s that simple. It’s the number of the ‘right’ type of donors.
Often, their low number of donors is disguised by the fact that they have a much larger mailing list than donor list. They have a big list that includes people like…
- Beneficiaries of their services who are not donors.
- People who donated to event participants or peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
- People who signed up for an online newsletter or other free resource and have not yet made a donation.
- People who have only ever made a donation in memory or honor of someone.
- Donors who haven’t made a gift in two or more years.
You may call some of these groups ‘donors’, but these people are unlikely to give again. No matter how great a job you do at asking them.
It’s not your work that’s the problem. It’s your list. It’s too many people who are unlikely to donate.
What can you do about it?
- Get expert advice. It’s a complex situation, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
- Get Moceanic Coaching+. We can work individually and directly with you on who you should be communicating with and how.
If it happens to you, don’t beat yourself up! It may be them (your list packed with non-donors), not you!
And finally, remember this: When something goes wrong, it is a major opportunity to learn something new. Sometimes, failure like this turns out to be positive in the long-run!
Wondering if Coaching+ is right for you? Book a free 25-minute call with one of our Fundraisingologists. They will give you great free advice, and help you identify which Coaching+ program might be right for you.
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