3 little-known best times to ask a donor for money

#1 3 to 6 weeks after they've given

Hands down, without question, this is the best time to ask a donor to give. The #1 predictor of likelihood to give is recency of the last gift. A lot of nonprofits operate on the opposite assumption -- that recency predicts unwillingness to give again. If you're avoiding contact with recent donors, you're losing significant opportunities to bond with happy, involved donors.

#2 When you urgently need the money

Donors want to be wanted. A chance to save a program (or the whole organization) from oblivion is an attractive, exciting offer to most donors. Real and urgent need -- with dire consequences if the need isn't met -- is the very best fundraising proposition there is. Admitting you need help doesn't -- as some think -- signal your failure or mismanagement; it tells the donor she matters, and that her gift is significant.

#3 After 8 to 9 months with no gift

A lapsed donor is much less likely to give to you ever again than a current donor. And the big drop-off point for giving is around eight or nine months. If they haven't given in that long, there's a good chance the relationship is going cold; it's time for a last-ditch effort to save it. Some donors give on an annual basis, and it behooves you to know who they are (as they're generally clustered at the high end of your file). But most don't. A frequency of two to five gifts per year is normal for most donors, most nonprofits. Nine months without a gift from them means trouble.

Technorati Tags: direct marketing, donor psychology

Comments

[charles hayes]

We recently opened a non profit organization to feed the hungry. To house the homeless.To assist the elderly.But we're running short of a miracle and need all of the HELP that we can get.So we're sending out an S.O.S..In hope of being rescued.Willing to give futher information upon request.
Thank You Kindly,
Charles Hayes