Donors Frustrated by Ways Charities Appeal and Follow Up

Many charities are losing support because they don’t take full advantage of the ways donors want to give, volunteer, and advocate on a nonprofit group’s behalf, two new studies suggest.

Nearly 28 percent of American donors said they had stopped making regular contributions to a charity. The second most frequently reported reason for doing so, after a change in the donor’s personal finances, was “a feeling that the charity was not making the best use of its financial resources,” the survey found.

When asked what would prompt them to make repeat contributions to a charity they had given to only once before, donors said the top motivators would be improved personal finances and passion for the organization’s work.

Another top motivator cited by donors was “access to information that proved the impact of their contributions.”

Yet many donors never hear anything from charities they support, according to another survey of 1,022 contributors. More than 20 percent of donors said that they had never been thanked, according to the study conducted by NTEN, a group for people involved with nonprofit technology, and Charity Dynamics, a consulting firm that advises nonprofits on online marketing and fundraising.

Donors said they give nearly 70 percent, on average, of the money they contribute to nonprofits every year to a “favorite charity.” For that reason, the researchers said, nonprofits should make becoming their donors’ favorite charity an objective, along with recruiting new donors and meeting annual dollar goals. And they should use donor surveys to measure whether they achieve that status.

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