Addressing Donor Concerns

Your major donor just called and listed out all of their frustrations. You won't like what they had to say. It wasn't about money. It wasn't about competing priorities. It wasn't about the economy. It was about you. "They never told me what my gift accomplished," they said. "I gave $25,000 and got a form letter thank you. Then nothing for eight months." "When I finally called to ask about impact, they couldn't give me specifics. Just vague statements about 'helping the community.'" "I realized they didn't see me as a partner. They saw me as an ATM." ‼️ The organizations losing major donors aren't victims of donor fatigue. They're victims of donor neglect. ‼️ Your major donors don't leave because they can't afford to give. They leave because you can't afford to care. Pull up your major donor communications from the last year. For each donor over $10,000, ask: 👉 Did they receive specific impact reports tied to their gift? 👉 Did someone call them personally within 3-5 days? 👉 Did they get invited to see their impact firsthand? 👉 Did you ask for their input on organizational direction? If you answered "no" to any of these, you've got a problem. The most successful major donor programs I work with treat donors like investors, not transactions: 👉 They provide quarterly impact reports with specific outcomes. 👉 They invite donors to strategic planning conversations. 👉 They offer behind-the-scenes access to programs and leadership. 👉 They ask for advice, not just money. Your major donors aren't leaving because they don't care about your mission. They're leaving because you don't care about them. Fix your relationship problem before you blame donor capacity. Because in fundraising, how you treat donors after they give determines whether they'll give again.

I'm a donor, and I want to know when my grantees fail. Not because I want to avoid funding them in the future, but because I want to help them succeed. It can feel scary to tell a donor that something isn’t working, but being upfront builds trust in the long run. If you wait until the final report to explain why things didn’t go as expected, you will have wasted time and resources, and you will risk damaging a valuable donor relationship. Donors want their funds to be used effectively. If something isn’t working, let us know. We may be able to help by adjusting the project scope, connecting you to useful resources, or offering insights from similar experiences. Being honest about obstacles is also a learning opportunity for both you and your donor. It helps refine future strategies, strengthens partnerships, and ensures that funding decisions are made with real-world challenges in mind. At the end of the day, transparency leads to stronger long-term relationships and better outcomes. So do not be afraid to communicate. Your donor will appreciate it more than you think.

As we talked about on Monday, change is always happening! Here are some quick tips to help your donors and team tackle it together. 1. Communicate Early and Often One of the best ways to avoid surprising donors with sudden changes is to make a plan in advance. As we know, change is inevitable, and whether your senior leadership has been in place for 10 months or 10 years, a transition is coming–why not plan for it during periods of relative calm? For example, during a leadership change, donor relations should have a communication strategy in place to keep donors informed at pivotal moments. It’s important to understand who needs to know what, and when, which means keeping notification lists consistently updated. 2. Involve Donors in the Process Involving donors in organizational changes whenever possible can deepen their engagement. This can be done through surveys, committee participation, or personal meetings. By inviting their feedback, nonprofits can help donors feel more invested in the organization’s future, even as things shift. For instance, when considering changes to the scholarship experience for beneficiaries, invite donors who fund these awards to discuss the new direction and create understanding of why it’s necessary. 3. Focus on Long-Term Relationships, Not Individual Roles Staff turnover is unavoidable. The average tenure for development professionals is between 16-18 months, a period often too short for building lasting donor relationships. For nonprofits, it’s critical to ensure that engagement efforts are focused on the donor’s long-term experience rather than the individual relationships with current staff members. It’s important to implement systems and processes that allow donors to continue feeling connected, regardless of who holds a particular role. Your organization’s CRM platform can play a key role here by ensuring that donor history and preferences are easily accessible to new staff members. 4. Leverage Built-In Opportunities Organizational changes also present opportunities to strengthen donor relationships. For instance, a leadership change can be framed as a new chapter for the organization, one where donors are key stakeholders in shaping the future. Hosting in-person and virtual events with new leadership can be a way to connect with donors and reinforce their importance to the organization. These events provide opportunities for donors to ask questions, connect with new leaders, and continue feeling valued. 5. Be an Advocate for Donors As nonprofit professionals, no matter how organizational change is affecting our own role, it’s our responsibility to be the donors’ advocate. In many cases, donors won’t be at the table when major decisions are made, so it’s up to us to ask how these changes will affect them. Whether it’s the introduction of new gift acceptance policies or changes to event logistics, always consider the donor’s perspective.

Nonprofit CEOs: If your donors don't ask to see your financials do you assume they aren't interested in them? Why risk having to answer tough questions? Before you solicit your mid- and major-level donors 1:1, your goal is to make sure you've addressed every question any donor has in their mind that would KEEP them from giving their BEST gift. I call these investment-level conversations. And if your development team isn’t comfortable having them, you’re leaving millions of dollars on the table. Yes, millions. Donors have questions. And these questions KEEP them from giving larger gifts. Things like: ✔ Aren't you funded by the government? ✔ Don't people pay for services? ✔ What are you spending the donation on? ✔ Am I your only large donor, or are others also giving? Your job is to educate donors on how your #nonprofit is funded and what the financial need is of the organization. Beyond the impact stories or changed lives . . . you need to tell the financial story too. So, my advice to you? Embrace the idea that you SHOULD have investment-level conversations in order to get investment-level gifts. Now, your turn: What tough questions have you had from your donors that you either struggled with or answered like a champ? -- P.S. If you have donors, but you’re not entirely sure if your team knows how to lead them to their BEST gift or even solicit them 1:1 (not through events or appeals), then we should talk. DM me ‘not sure’ and we’ll set up a time to chat after Thanksgiving.