By David Cobb
Senior VP, Campaigns

As we conduct campaign feasibility studies for our client partners, many organizations turn over an impressive list of respected, high-capacity donors with a consistent and generous giving history. But when the time comes to ask these donors their thoughts on an organization’s impending campaign initiatives, my team and I have found the relationship the nonprofit thinks it has with the donor is a bit different from the donor’s perspective.

Tough as it may be (for a variety of reasons!), think back to 2020 and the early months of the pandemic. Members of the public came to the rescue of organizations suddenly facing serious, existential challenges, with both longtime and first-time supporters stepping up to make significant gifts in an outpouring of compassion and solidarity.

But as the pandemic years waned and the acute threat to nonprofits subsided, personal conversations and touchpoints with donors languished. Without a global pandemic as a backdrop for giving, many donors went from heroes to…well, not exactly zeros, but definitely feeling less love than in 2020.

So what happened?

For one, the pandemic upended the nonprofit sector from a labor perspective. In the face of unprecedented fundraising challenges, many executive directors and development professionals either changed jobs or left the sector entirely. Turnover at such a high volume made it difficult for nonprofits to steward donors the way they knew they should. Many times, donor introductions or handoffs couldn’t be made to new staff members, and the flow of communications to supporters was interrupted or suspended.

In our interviews with donors, we hear time and again that relationships have not been appropriately “transferred” within the organization. When new team members don’t have good notes, routines, or systems to rely on as they onboard, donors are left wondering why the organization they’ve supported so intentionally hasn’t been in touch lately.

And there’s a flip side to the coin as well: It’s not only nonprofits that have slipped back into pre-pandemic ways. Foundation representatives and individual donors may need to be prompted to reengage in ways that differ from what worked well in 2020.

You can fix this

When we uncover this uncomfortable truth in our campaign feasibility studies, we usually recommend that organizations plan at least 18 months of rekindling the flame with donors. While they may have appreciated that you set up Zoom calls to stay in touch during the pandemic, chances are they’d rather meet for coffee, lunch, happy hour, or a round of golf. Go the extra mile to figure out how they prefer to connect, and then execute on it.

A few things to remember:

• Your meetings don’t need to include an ask – the point is simply to pull the donor back into your metaphorical warm embrace.
• When thoughtfully planned and with sufficient lead time, staff transitions are great excuses to have conversations with donors. Whether you’re saying hello or goodbye, take the time to reach out to your nonprofit’s top 25-50 supporters and let them know what’s going on – if not for the sake of your organization’s future, then to save you (or your successor) from headaches during a feasibility study or campaign!
• On a more proactive note, prepare for eventual staff turnover by creating a donor stewardship transition plan for your organization, and implement a system for meticulously logging notes and dates of conversations in your CRM tool; for nonprofits, this is a hill you die on.

If you’re interested in hearing more about what we’ve learned from our feasibility studies and whether your organization could benefit from one, feel free to reach out anytime.