I’ve been working in direct marketing, fundraising and monthly giving for a very long time.
And of course, I ran into problems. One of the things I learned early on though is that sometimes it’s really important to make sure that you solve the problem where the problem needs to be solved.
In other words, sometimes, it looks as if something is causing the problem, but when you analyze it, it’s really caused by something else. One of the biggest causes of trouble seems to be causes by donor base systems.
Think again. Just look at this real life example:
An organization called me a little while ago about a problem they were having with their monthly giving program.
Out of their 1,500 donors, they had 1,200 Sustainers! That’s fantastic!! That is 80% of their total number of donors.
To process the payments, they were using their donor base system which had the processing of the EFT and Credit card monthly donations outsourced to two payment processing partners.
Initially, the organization talked to me about finding a new donor base system. They thought that was where the problem was.
But when we talked through the process, it turned out that the real problem was the lack of feedback from the payment processing companies about monthly donors who had lapsed (whose cards had been declined).
The organization already had the processes in place to follow up, but sometimes would not hear for weeks which donors could not be charged.
I recommended rather than changing their donor base system, to try talking to the CEO of the donor base partner to get this resolved. The solution would be to get an email the day after the designated payment date with any donors that could not be charged or processed, so the organization could take action immediately. All that had to happen was to put some pressure to ensure that processes were followed up sooner.
Believe me, I know how hard it is to convert to a new donor base system. It always takes three times longer and is two times more expensive than you expect.
And, in many cases, those organizations that are not happy with their system, have simply not been properly trained so they simply don’t know what it can do. Or they’re not really looking at the right things.
So, in this example, the real problem was not with the donor base itself, but rather with the payment vendors. A donor base conversion was not needed at all!
This also goes back to the fact that you really must totally own all pieces of the monthly donor process.
I’m sure that if you demonstrate that you’re in charge of the whole process and you find out where the problem really lies, you can fix the problem where the problem needs to be solved.
There are several great donor base systems out there. Many smart people did a lot of research, talked with people like you and I to find out what’s needed to make our life as a fundraiser easier. And they tested before the new release went live. So, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, sit back and evaluate what’s really ‘troubling’ you and find out where to solve those troubles.
I love a challenge, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have something that’s troubling you with your monthly donor program.
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