This is one of the perennial questions of fundraising, particularly direct response fundraising.
Anyone who has THE answer is welcome to guest author an Agitator post on the subject.
But here is as close to a definitive answer as I think there is … courtesy of fundraiser Ken Burnett. His key point …
“It’s not about how often you ask. That’s simply too mechanical. It is about how well you ask, which involves opportunity, sensitivity, setting, language, history, culture, tradition, preparation, empathy, urgency and need. We have to consider our timing, our storytelling ability, the donor’s comfort, interests and potential for resentment and our ability to inspire and create rapport. And the rest. There can be no optimum number to cover such an intimate and personal inter-relationship. I wouldn’t pronounce upon it any more than I might aspire to tell people how often they should have sex.”
And he concludes …
“I will say though that generally we should ask more. Because asking is the high point of effective donor relationship development. And the more we do that the better. But bald, naked, random, indiscriminate and repetitive asking, that I am sure we should avoid. We can aim higher.
“So there are my views. I don’t recall ever suggesting we ask less. Less stridently, perhaps. Less insensitively, I hope so. But not less, absolutely. For that is what we’re here to do: to ask. All I’ve learned is that it really pays us to ask right.
“I hope I have now made this clear.”
Is that a waffle? I think not. But read Ken’s entire piece (and get his additional insights). And if you can be more definitive on the matter, let us hear from you.
Tom
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Of course Ken’s bang on. Each comm is an opportunity to remind the supporter how amazing the cause is and why it’s so important to keep supporting. Well-executed asks should increase engagement even when the answer is ‘no’!
What we should all strive to be better at, though, is asking for different things. Someone said ‘no’ to an upgrade 3 times in a row? Let’s give them something easy to say ‘yes’ to – add your name to our campaign, tweet your friends, whatever. If we’re truly looking to move away from silos then let’s broaden our horizons and offer our supporters more (relevant) options to increase engagement.
Thanks Lisa , that’s a great comment. I’ll use that.
Best, Ken
To me the one rule I do think that organizations do need to apply is to at least ask less than they answer. Donors support organizations as a means to an end. If the communication of the progress towards that end is less than the asks to support it, then I think you may be asking too much.
Over the years, I have seen organizations that fatigue their donors with too much irrelevant communication, as well as those who underwhelm out of the fear of fatiguing their donors. We have conducted studies in this area and found, that in fact, there is a participation bell-curve that can be directly correlated to the number of communications within a specified period of time. Again, this is both good and bad. Are you under-communicating and leaving dollars on the table, or over-communicating and turning donors away? At the end of the day, this question is secondary to communicating the right message at the right time through the right channel mix, which is the crux of Constituent Relationship Management (CRM). Organizations that truly embrace a CRM methodology of fundraising will surely see improved revenue, retention of donors and a growing band of peer-to-peer fundraisers. Proper CRM will naturally resolve this question of ‘how often’.