As a donor of many organizations, I have HAD it.
HAD it.
I am tired of giving donations to causes that either need it, or have asked me, or because I am moved by their work and you know what I hear back?
Nada. Nothing. Zilch!
We are very, very HARD on our clients (just ask them). If you want to work with us, together, you need to respect the people who help you. We have this fancy-schmantzy name for it – we call it “donor centered fundraising”, which to dumb it down, means – you CARE about and FOR your donors. It means you take the time to craft special appeals that your donors will care about – not the same thing you did last year with a new stock image…
It means, you know, treat them like individuals who are doing something VERY special for you.
If you don’t care about your donors, then we want nothing to do with you. And they won’t either.
Here’s what I am proposing – a money back guarantee. Hey – if Sears can do it – you can do it.
If I give a donation to you – and you don’t THANK me, ACKNOWLEDGE my existence, TELL me how I’ve helped, treat me with a bit of RESPECT within – hmm – let’s say 30 days – I can ASK and GET my donation back.
Am I crazy?
You shouldn’t be ordered by the government to do this or brow beated by your peers and colleagues to do it.
But I plead with you, right now – GO FOR IT.
I would give to ANY charity in a heartbeat if they had this guarantee. Who wouldn’t?
I bet the first client I can convince to do it will reap some fantastic benefits.
Do you think you could do it?
Twitter Updates
4 August 2010 at 3:40 pm
John – I think you are on to something, in particular with the “tell me how I’ve helped”. I could deal with not being thanked or acknowledged if I knew that my donation made a real and lasting impact.
I’d love to chat more about this with you – keep up the great work here!
4 August 2010 at 3:46 pm
Thanks for your comment Steve. And you are in luck since we are hooking up in an hour – we can chat about this as much as you want! Cheers.
5 August 2010 at 12:41 pm
John-I wish I’d written this! I love money-back guarantees and I am so frustrated with npos and charities who are slow to thank. Good thinking–you are so right that any group who does this will win with their donors.
As donors to many organizations, we have horror stories of receiving appeals prior to thank yous and on and on.
Thanks for the great thinking. Let me know how this goes.
st
5 August 2010 at 12:41 pm
I recently suggested this at a meeting, I think they all thought I was made. I love the idea. I think I first saw it on Global Givings site, not exactly what you are suggesting here but a giving garauntee. Wonder who will be donor focussed enough to introduce your idea?
5 August 2010 at 1:50 pm
JL
Love it. See attached. http://bit.ly/b1cimo
Seems as if it’s been done, tested and proven to work. At least in the initial 6 month period post sign up (proof would also be in the long term, net value – but based on these initial results hard to have seen it not working).
Jono
5 August 2010 at 2:10 pm
Thanks Steve. Thinking a little more about this – what angers me the most is that there are people out there who think no matter what they do or don’t do – donors are SO gracious – they will still give – and sadly – often that is true… we are that generous. Also -it might be a generational thing – but I will NOT give again to any organization – no matter how good or big they are – that cant be bothered to acknowledge it.
Cheers Conor. Let’s see if the Agents have a client or two who would be brave enough to give it a good – even as Jono suggests below – test it in acquisition and see what sort of difference it has long term.
Thanks Jono for the additional link – i know if anyone would have info on that – you would!
5 August 2010 at 10:35 pm
Great idea – before you test this you would have to work out the regulatory kinks with CRA. Right now, once you give to a charity and get your receipt, charities are NOT allowed to refund your money.
Queen’s got into *really* big trouble with CRA when they publicly announced they were returning the Radler gift (Radler was a business associate of Conrad Black).
Charities can transfer a donor’s donation to another charity but a refund … that has got CRA charitable status revokation written all over it.
6 August 2010 at 8:55 am
Hey Ann! Thanks for your comments. And I had no idea that charities are NOT allowed to refund donations. So thank you for pointing that out – however – as a donor – i think I would accept my donation being transferred to another organization of my own choosing. But still, that is unbelievable. Thanks for shedding some light on this.
6 August 2010 at 9:49 am
Brilliant – would bring a new level of accountability.
6 August 2010 at 12:56 pm
Re: Ann’s CRA comment. This is one of the the things that held us back last year, curse those knowledgeable Treasurers!
Another solution to we came up with was to offer a 30 or 60 day money back guarantee, deferring the issuance of the tax receipt until the period had passed. Much to consider.
Thanks to Ann for bringing this important issue to the forefront.
6 August 2010 at 1:05 pm
Agreed Donna. After seeing Ann’s comment, we have decided to do a little more research into this. Thanks for your additional thoughts.
7 August 2010 at 10:51 am
Two thoughts:
– I don’t advocate donor-centered fundraising because it’s “right” … but instead because it’s smart. Poor cultivation is often the result of short-sightedness and/or inability to track lifetime value. Communications that don’t give you a decent net in the short run sometimes have big payoff long term.
– I’ve worked with a couple of political action groups that do give a money-back guarantee. These aren’t charities. The guarantee is for “membership dues” where “member” is used instead of “supporter” though they offer no more benefits than WWF, Sierra Club, Audubon, etc. The guarantees are prominent on page 4 of the letter and on the reply form. These guarantees have been tested. They lift response. And if ANYone asks for their money back, it’s rare and nothing compared to the response lift.
9 August 2010 at 8:51 am
What a great idea! Gwen Chapman and I thought about this in the late 80s at WWF but were flummoxed by the issue Anne Rosenfield raiuses about returning receiopted charitable gifts.
So we invented the “We’re Listening” Guarantee instead and donors loved it!
9 August 2010 at 11:04 am
Thanks Dan – for your thoughts here and for your thoughtful post to your readers (http://happydonors.com/?p=638). We do spend a little time reminding clients that you don’t always get instant results from communicating better and more directly to you donors… it does take time.
Cheers Godfather of Good David – why am i not surprised that some of the original agents of good thought of this well before our time? You both were “doing” donor centered fundraising before it became a buzz word for consultants… which you know – and which is why we love you!
Thanks David!
10 August 2010 at 5:21 pm
John, this is B-I-G. And common sense, really. And that’s why it should have been thought of long ago. You’re going rogue. And I like it. donor-centred fundraising is a brilliant idea. It’s a win for donors and a win for charities. Perfect.
11 August 2010 at 9:17 am
Thanks for your thought Kim… I agree – it is a BIG idea whose time has maybe come… Not sure the CRA would agree… but as donors we can demand more for our support! thanks for yours btw…
13 August 2010 at 9:06 pm
Hey John!
Why don’t you approach Imagine Canada or AFP Government relations Canada to see if they would facilitate a meeting with some charity folks and CRA on the “30 day money back guarantee” concept with the money being held in escrow for 30 days based on Donna’s concept?
Cheers
Ann
P.S. If David is the “G-dfather of Good” can I be the “Princess of Personal Giving?”
17 August 2010 at 1:35 pm
Thanks Ann for your additional input. it might be something worth taking up with Imagine Canada for sure. I am running it past a few colleagues to see what they think. thanks again and – for the record “princess of personal giving” have a wonderful ring to it.
23 September 2010 at 4:15 am
I completely disagree. I was told long ago not to give, if I was only giving to get something in return.
Donors give for many reasons, many of which have nothing to do with being thanked. Sounds like alotta client bologna intended to impress.
19 April 2011 at 3:26 pm
It’s always nearly impossible to find well informed people on this topic, however you sound like you understand what you’re writing about! Many thanks