Donor centered communications - up to you or them?

Much of what Stephanie talks about is good sound fundraising practice - be it online, on the phone or even in person we should all be working to be as donor centered as possible and providing folks with the opportunity to inform you how they would like to be communicated with is a component piece of that. The bigger challenge for many of us is following through on that request. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone simply told us that I would like to be called on Tuesday the 1st of September between 7 and 8 for this years gift? (Assuming that they don't all pick that day and time - that would be a whole new challenge.) Of course that is not the reality either.

The reality for the vast majority of us is that we don't have a mechanism in place to allow for that type of preference of communication. Many of us can opt folks out of programs - no mail, no phone, no mail solicitation etc. but few of us have the system or process in place to say "prefers" email or "prefers" mail and then follow through on it. That places us in an interesting position if we ask that question then doesn't it?

The result we have historically gotten is constituents (wish I could call them donors but that is usually a stretch) telling us that they don't object to mail but are less then interested in phone. If you have done any of this type of work in the last five years, you have probably noticed the growth in the percentage of folks who would like to be communicated with via email only.

I advocate a system that allows that stream of communication online only - gives you the opportunity to present an environmentally friendly alternative to mail that can cut costs as printing and postage increase (we all know that postage is going to go up 2-3 cents every May for the next decade) while at the same time pitching this to your constituents as a direct value for them in providing targeted communications in the format that they are selecting. * Start up efforts here require either creating an online version of each communication or removing the constituents from that communication. That said, it can be much more powerful; don't do a letter thanking your donor, do a video of a student who their gift helped, don't do a story about what you have accomplished, bring your donors to campus with a flash or video presentation showing them. Folks who are interested will not only be informed but the online communication stream allows for you to track who is paying attention. Even if they don't give online, you can continue to target and focus on those folks online and on the phone - increase your focus, increase your communications, ultimately increase your dollars.

Giving constituents choices and options for not only where their gift is used but from the very start in terms of how they hear from you will only benefit you. It is a big step to take as we depend upon results from programs that have traditionally returned good value per dollar invested and this requires taking steps away from those programs but in the end, if we don't start to adjust our efforts to match the current communication techniques and expectations, someone else will - simply because they are your alumni today doesn't mean they will be your donors tomorrow.

*In the interest of being direct and clear, MainSpring has developed a program that allows for this style of environmentally friendly communication.