Common sense and common decency..

So a while back I was tasked with turning round a small non-profit who had been running in the red for some time. It wasn’t long before I began to see why.

There were patterns of inconsistency, and staff turnover. There was an almost non existent volunteer base which meant that a small staff was stretched to the limit.

The organization was made up of genuinely caring individuals, but as a result of minimal training, and no local PR. The donor base was small and tended towards an over reliance on the same small donor pool, many of whom were friends and family of staff. Of course that also meant that if you lost a staff member, you would also lose a few of your donors.

Among other issues was a poor social media presence, and no prospecting for new donors. Each year the gap caused by expensive programs, and poorly stewarded funds, caused the gap in the numbers to widen like the Red Sea.

A reluctance to make the ask on the part of one DO followed by the actions of an over zealous “seasoned” DO had cost the organization some bigger donors. I quickly realized why I had been brought in, I also saw that in a limited time, my work was indeed cut out for me.

It seems that their senior DO had requested a meeting with a very generous long standing donor. The donor was part of a large, close knit family of generous donors who had been giving to this organization, along with several others for over 20 years.

Now let’s say for the purpose of this story , the donors name was William and we’ll say that he, along with the other members of his family, were all surgeons in various parts of the country. Each one extremely successful in their own area of expertise, and each of them had a wonderful sense of compassion and social responsibility.

The DO in question had taken another development employee with them to the lunch meeting to help get this employee accustomed to making the “ask” William, was from another major metropolitan city, but had continued to give to this local office. He was in town visiting family and didn’t really want a meeting. However, being the nice man he is, he agreed to the lunch meeting, and the stage was set.

The lunch was pleasant and went fairly well until the Veteran DO who had only been with the company a matter of weeks, made a move. With limited time to cultivate a relationship with this donor, or his family, the DO plunged in and asked William if he would consider a gift above and beyond his normal gift.

Now I am not saying that an increased gift cannot be courted in the right circumstances. It’s not a terrible thing, to ask for a 10 or 20 percent increase, or a special gift for a new initiative that you know the donor is passionate about. However, this DO’s suggested increase was not 10, 20 or even a 100% of his usual, generous gift, but a whopping 1000% ... I was left shaking my head. It’s a terrible mistake to not take time to get to know your donor, but a 20 year veteran who casually asks for such an increase, without even knowing this man, was utterly beyond me.

It seems the DO had acquired a new program for looking up a donors net worth. This tool is often utilized in fund raising, but must be used with care. Not knowing the donor, or taking into consideration any of his other interests or obligations , the DO drew the conclusion that the donor wasn’t giving enough!

Not satisfied with the ask , they further insulted the donor by suggesting that the entire family might like to take part in an even bigger gift and quadruple the original 1000 percent. At this point the donor, pointed out that he had no control or intimate knowledge of his families giving. Then William being quite offended, excused himself and ended the lunch meeting.There was no sense of appreciation for all he had done over many years, Just a hand held out like Oliver for more!

But there is more. The DO, apparently undaunted said they would let him reflect on the proposal for a few days and would then be in touch. Several follow up emails ensued. Eventually not getting the hoped for response, the DO asked for another meeting, at which point William politely requested that he not be contacted again. Boom!

In fact, William was a generous man and although he did not want to be hounded by that particular DO. He did not stop giving to the organization as a whole. He had also been giving to the local office of the organization in his own state. He continued to give there and increased his annual donation to take into account what he had been giving to the office here.

When I came into the situation, I quickly found out that to compound an already bad situation, no apology had ever been issued. There might not be anything I could do to salvage the relationship but the very least I owed this kind man was an apology for the way he had been treated.

I wrote a simple but heart felt email. I apologized without reservation for the way he had been treated and let him know that the DO concerned was no longer with the organization. I explained to him that we were not expecting anything from this letter, other than hopefully his acceptance of our apology. I told him that I understood his deep devotion to this cause and thanked him for continuing to give to his local office. However, because his family still live and give in this area, I also offered to update him twice a year about local events and programs. I made sure to tell him that I would happily do that without any expectation of a donation. I also promised to be his only contact going forward.

He replied with a most kind and generous letter. Thanking me for taking the time to apologize and agreeing to my updating him twice a year. He is a wonderful man and his family also make meaningful contributions to our community. I was happy to do this for no other reason than to keep the lines of communication open. However, to my immense surprise, a few months later at the end of the year, the office received a most generous gift, allowing them to finish out year end with a restored relationship and strong numbers.?

But here’s the moral of this story. More than the happy ending of a redeemed relationship, there is a message here about greed and poor stewardship. We must we careful to not let our donors feel unappreciated and taken for granted. As a society, we should no more endorse entitlement in mature professionals at work, especially in non profit, than we should allow it in our young. Common sense and common decency also play a role here. We live in a new age, yet donors are often still over 60. If we hope to change that demographic, we must remember that things of the past still have a place. We must not lose the art of good communication, nor can we forfeit grace, kindness and good manners in our dealings with donors. Let’s always make sure we show proper gratitude and curtesy in our roles in non profit. Let’s take ownership of mistakes made, and finally, let’s be ready to apologize and show humility when we get things wrong.?

?In gratitude,

?Abby

?If you are looking for help to turn your your non profit around, contact me at?[email protected]