Five Strategies to Engage Donors Now - Part 5

Tell Donors How You’re Pressing Forward in Difficult Times

Every organization is going to hit a rough patch. (If 2020-21 was that for yours, you know you’re not alone!)

But all our nonprofits will have crisis moments:

• Hurtful personnel changes or upheaval
• Financial and budget issues that were unplanned and out of our control
• Divisions around future direction
• The unexpected end of a key partnership

Sometimes those crises within our organizations even garner us bad press or headlines.

In this blog series, we’ve been unpacking five strategies to engage donors right now. For your loyal and long-term givers, your transparent communication to them during difficult times will keep them engaged and help retain them as your advocates.

Steps to Take Before the Difficult Times Hit:

1. Have a clear plan
Carve out time at your staff retreat or other strategic planning to build—or revisit—your crisis communications plan. Everyone on your team should know the basics of what their role is and isn’t during a true public relations or media issue.

2. Treat your loyal givers as insiders
Your long-term donors believe in your mission and want to be in this for the long haul. Give them the tools to be your advocate in good times and bad. This often means segmented “insider” communication from your executive leader or CEO to those groups of donors, keeping them updated on the challenges you’re facing and how they can help. There is nothing more effective than a group of donors who are well-versed in your organization’s impact and how you’re handling a challenge to help diffuse negativity and change the community conversation.

3. Be transparent
When those challenges hit:

• Let donors know how you’re facing them.
• Give them input on your course of direction when you can.
• Involve them in helping you solve the issues.

Don’t hide what’s happening: your donors want to help, and sometimes they need to hear that you really need them. We saw nonprofits that communicated well about their continued work and their needs through the pandemic continue to survive, and often to thrive. Your credibility will hinge on your ability to effectively communicate—and seek input—on how you are pressing forward to your donors.

If we try to keep the reality of those challenges from our closest supporters, we’re missing a chance to invite them to help us and to provide that space for donors to be called to meet a need.

Leaders have to encourage this kind of openness with donors who have made significant, consistent, and loyal investments. Sometimes, in very large and established organizations especially, we see leaders hesitate to do this because it feels like a failure to acknowledge when something is wrong or when we have a need. But we need to place trust in our loyal givers in our most vulnerable times.

The greatest impact among those generous givers will be in their long-term retention. If you are persuasive and passionate, a new giver will typically give that first gift. But the difference between the donor who gives a one-time gift and the donor who engages for the long term really boils down to personal relationships—and the systems that drive, connect, organize, and maintain those relationships.

When it comes to a crisis, plan for how to handle that critical group of donors and practice engaging them with authenticity and honesty now.

Timothy L. Smith