Survey Says: We're Driving Donors Away!

Every two years at about this time, The Lily School of Philanthropy and Bank of America through US trust issue an amazing report that is chock full of great data. I highly recommend we all read it in order to understand our donors and their motivations and activities. Here is the link to the 2014 US Trust Study of High net Worth Households. I am a huge fan of statistical data, rather than relying on anecdotes from folks, I prefer empirical evidence of nationwide trends. Donors are able to clearly express to us their needs and desires while also communicating why they believe they act the way they do. 

Key Findings:

AGAIN, #1 Reason Why Donors STOP Giving: OVER-SOLICITATION!

 

Remember, in order to solicit again, we have to THANK donors and then tell them the IMPACT of their giving, if we ask them for more money before we do those 2 things, we've over-solicited them. This data makes an even stronger case for donor relations- Ask yourself- What is our ask to thank ratio at our organization?

Another truth we know, if we get donors engaged as volunteers, in any capacity, they give MORE:

Another important factor to consider is that MOST donors make giving decisions together as partners:

What insights were you able to glean from the study? What numbers stood out to you? What would you like for them to have asked this donor population? I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Lynne