Staying in-touch: how much is enough?
There’s a great chance that your highest capacity prospects and donors are solicited every single week by an organization. For many places, development has grown to be made up significantly of mailings and events — it leaves individuals and businesses in a place to be asked all. of. the. time.
Here’s where your job comes in: build a relationship before you do anything else, and stay in touch often. We hear questions about the frequency of communication from our clients, and the truth is, there no one-size-fits-all answer. It’s important to remember that philanthropy is always on our minds because it’s what we do for a living and we make it our priority every day. Those who we are soliciting have busy lives including time consuming jobs, families, travel — and for some, we may fall lower on the list. It doesn’t mean that nonprofits aren’t extremely important to them; they are, or they wouldn’t be having any conversations with you. But it also means that you have to try that much harder to get their attention, be back in front of them, and find time to talk.
No, you shouldn’t make them feel like your outreach is relentless. We all need breaks from our interests. You should make them feel, though, like you are continuing to think about them even if they are not in the position to think about you that day or week. I talk a lot about having an arsenal of things to use to help engage prospects, and your communication is no different! Have different things that can give you an opportunity to be in touch — things that aren’t about your ask or money. Send pictures from a gala that they couldn’t attend or of a program they’ve supported before (think kids with school supplies, hospital with new bottle warmers in the NICU, college students who got scholarships having lunch together, and the list goes on). A simple note of “this made me think of you and I wanted to share, take care” goes a long way to someone who probably doesn’t have a ton of spare time and who might not have the organization on the very top of his or her list during the middle of a busy work week.
Keep your communication in line with the stage that this prospect is in. Keeping an organized portfolio comes in to play here. Who is in the cultivation stage, and how do you peak his or her interest with requests to meet (and then follow ups to those requests, and then help from a board member to those requests!)? Who is in the stewardship phase, and how do you make him or her feel like their investment has already grown dividends (with stats on outcomes and photos of evidence!)?
Check yourself often against what is reasonable, but do not stop yourself from staying in touch regularly because of a lack of response. They’ll check out your update or respond to your request when they can. If they don’t and you want to touch base, pick up the phone — it’s the best way to get someone for 5 minutes. Remember, your nonprofit might not be the first thing on their life “to-do list” but they’ll be grateful that you were persistent in keeping them engaged!
