Q: I attended your “The Art of Asking” Workshop, December 1st through the MN Council of NonProfits and I’m wondering what you would suggest for a donor who made a three-year pledge of $5000/year and the second year decided to honor that pledge at $4000 and we haven’t heard from her yet for 2011 which would be the third year. The fact that 2011’s pledge is late is not unusual in that she has always contributed very last minute.
We have sent her nice annual updates on the progress of the organization and how we have used her generous donations. We have taken her out to dinner and sent her a nice customized reminder for 2011 and we continually send her special invitations to events.
Here’s the second part to my question. . . Our organization has just been given a nice grant. However, I hesitate to communicate this to the donor for fear she will use this as an excuse to either further reduce her contribution or to cancel it all together.
What would you suggest? ~ Michele
Lori says: It’s a great question, Michele and I’m certain you are not alone in wondering how to get the donor to “pay up” so to speak.
Pledges are “a solemn binding promise to do, give, or refrain from doing something.” And in our world of contributions, that pledge promise may have an addendum such as: “if I’m able, if nothing changes with my finances, only because I’m excited about you right now,” and so on.
So, while you have done the very right things in taking this woman out to dinner and kept her loosely engaged by inviting her to events, I have a few questions for you to think about as you determine your next steps with her.
- Has your communication been two-way? Do you know for sure nothing has changed with her finances and she can still comfortably honor her pledge?
- Has she been sick, have elder family members she’s caring for, or children who need her financial support right now?
- What do you know about WHY she gave in the first place? What inspired her to make the gift?
- When you received the lower gift, did you call and thank her and talk with her about the lower amount she gave last year and why she needed to make the change in her pledge payment?
That conversation could have gone something like this:
“Donna, I’m calling to thank you for your recent pledge payment. How great that I get to speak with you voice to voice for a minute!
How are you and your family doing? Pause for input. Listen carefully.
I’m so glad to hear things are going well. I noticed that your pledge payment was smaller than the original annual pledge amount and I was worried that you or someone in your family may be having health issues or you may have had a rough year in this economy. Your gift has such an impact, Donna. I hope we’ve let you know how important you are to us. Pause for input
Would you like to set up a payment plan for the remaining balance on your pledge for this year? Or shall we extend out your payment for a bit longer? What would work for you? Pause for input.
It’s a talking AND a listening conversation.
- Have you been clear with her about the impact of her gift? With stories and examples of real people whose lives are different because of her gift?
- Have you made clear via email, newsletters, on your website and in conversation what your “funding gap” is throughout the year? Here’s a post I wrote about the funding gap: Talking about money so people want to give
- Have you offered her the option of making payments this year to ease any strain the pledge may be causing her?
The reality is she made a promise to your organization. And she has a right to change her mind about fulfilling on that promise. It can be harder for her to change her mind if she is kept in the loop about funding issues, good news and not so good new, waiting lists for specific programs. . . you get the point.
For me, I have pledges I’ve made with a few organizations and some of them do a much better job than others of keeping me connected. Those where I am communicated with in the very way I like to be communicated with (via phone or in person) I’m more likely to honor my pledge or increase it.
For the organizations where I receive their enews along with everyone else and never hear from anyone about what is going on in a way that I can tell takes someone a bit of time and thought, well, I’m more likely to think about reasons to stop paying on my pledge.
Final Thoughts
Rather than focusing on her actions or lack thereof, you may want to visit with your team and decide is there something YOU can be doing to honor this donor where ever she is in her life AND keep her engaged, informed, and wanting to do all she can to fulfill her pledge payment.
Good luck and let me know how it turns out.
