Yesterday was our region’s Great Give Day where the Community Foundation helped 200+ nonprofits combine their efforts to raise money in a condensed time frame. Participating organizations also have booths at an in-person event to help raise awareness of their causes and hopefully inspire giving.
Last year, I donated to an organization I learned of at Great Give Day — but I never heard from them again until yesterday when I received an email seeking another donation. Did I donate again? I did not. However, I did contribute to organizations that I have been engaged with throughout the year, and to another cause that always thanked me with a handwritten note for past donations.
The hardest part of gaining support is that first action: getting the initial donation, walking into a volunteer meeting for the first time, enrolling in that beginning class, attending the first church service, or doing business with a new company. Organizations spend untold energy and resources to prompt that behavior — and then they blow it by not following up or cultivating that relationship. It is such a wasted opportunity.
You’ll find that spending as much time on your retention and stewardship plans as you do on recruitment will exponentially grow your resources. Appreciating someone’s interest is far easier than getting them interested in the first place.
