How often should charities ask for donations?

16 March 2011

JOHN SUTTON of Public Communications Centre (PCC), who are sponsors of our March edition of the Fundraising Ireland newsletter, tells us that direct mail donors are remaining intensely loyal, despite any increase in how often they are asked to donate, providing charities make a strong case for support.

More and more often these days, fundraisers want my advice on that constant conundrum – ‘How often should we mail and ask?’ It’s a big issue among our clients particularly at this time of year and in the current economic climate.

In the past two years our agency, Public Communications Centre, has noted a significant shift from acquisition to development appeals. As the cost of acquisition continues to rise, our clients are increasingly placing their focus on retention and development. Today, the basic rule of any business development model must be to get more from what you have. Or, as management guru H. Igor Ansoff would have it, now is the time for market penetration strategy and offer development.

In a recent article for Third Sector, Helen Wadham cited an American-based survey by Cygnus Research, which stated: “Not-for-profits could raise more money by asking less often. Donors said they now drop charities or give less than they could to those that over-solicit.” Things are of course very different in the US, where mailing people less than 18 times a year is considered not enough!

Here at the agency we track 20 NGOs and charities through direct mail and I reviewed 12 of the leading ones, all of which I first donated to last March. I wanted to identify how often they have mailed asking me for support since then. (For the purposes of the review, as well as letters received, I included any newsletter I had been sent that also contained an ask.)

Remarkably, the first thing to hit me was that one organisation has not asked again! This is a national charity with a DM manager and programme, so I can only assume that I’m lost in their system. Or, is it possible that they have no development programme for cash donors? The remaining organisations could be grouped into two clusters – one making 2-5 asks, the other making between 8 and 10. I was unsurprised by the first cluster – I’d see that as being very close to the average for most Irish charities with a DM programme. However, I was surprised by the second. I ran a tracking project back in the early- to mid-noughties and I have no recollection of any Irish organisation mailing anything like as much as 8-10 times. No prizes for guessing that the three highest asks today come from overseas aid organisations – but the main conclusion has to be that some Irish charities have significantly increased their asking programme presumably because its working.

At PCC we follow two simple rules to determine how often a client should ask: One, the case must be compelling and urgent. Once it is, you can ask. Two, your donors will tell you if you are asking too much. Don’t be afraid to invite them to tell you how often they would like to hear from you.

One thing we know for sure is that mail donors are still donating and regular donors recruited through the mail are intensely loyal – so asking them often, in an impactful and intelligent manner, is usually not a problem.