Bad savings: how you drive away donors

It seems American Airlines now charges you $5 for the use of one of their blankets during a flight. At least according to the Brains on Fire blog, in the post Bad Profits on American Airlines.

Many businesses fall to the temptation to save a little here or charge a little there -- without counting the full cost. As the post notes:

Making money by spreading badwill creates short term profit, but long term damage. . . . Making money off customer anger is not a growth strategy.

If you're a nonprofit, you face the same temptation: You need to save money; in fact, it's your duty to do so. But are you looking at what your savings mean to your donors? Are your savings the bad kind -- the kind that annoy or underserve the people who make your work possible?

• If you're saving money by not sending receipts to donors, you're making bad savings.
  
• If you're saving money by taking more than a couple of days to issue a receipt, you're making bad savings.
  
• If you're saving money by having no vehicle for reporting back to donors what their giving accomplishes, you're making bad savings.
  
• If you're saving money by making it hard or time-consuming for donors to reach you on the phone, you're making bad savings.
  

By all means, save money everywhere you can. But make sure you ask yourself what you're doing to donors. They don't have to stay with you, and increasingly they won't if they don't have a good experience with you.

Technorati Tags: customer service, donor service

Comments

[Virginia]

Thanks for the link! I do want to mention that there was no charge for a blanket on 2 of the legs of my American flights over the weekend so I guess some "partner carriers" (puddle jumper operators branded as American) are doing this practice and some aren't. It's all "American" to customers though so they may need to get involved in ensuring a satisfactory (if not remarkable) experience!