We all recognize that successful organizations — including nonprofits — must keep up with new technology, but meeting donors & volunteers is paramount to success. After all, nowadays even the ten year old with a roadside lemonade stand has a web address and takes mobile phone orders!
However, we also find an all too common opposite mistake. A trap that can bleed vital funds and energy from nonprofits of all types and sizes.
- Never allow websites, emails or texts to substitute for face to face contact with major donors or volunteers.
- That means busy staffs and executives now must pay attention to BOTH rapid or mass communication.
- Old school “face time” needs to be conducted. Failure can suddenly cause interest and support to slip away.
Think about it: when did you last meet your “top ten” supporters for lunch?
Paradoxically, the barrage of emails and texts most of us face every day actually can increase the benefit from a simple conversation with a donor or volunteer over coffee.
Likewise, the old fashioned hand-written thank you note carries even more weight than before. Even making a “thank you phone call” from a director or board member makes a big difference.
We recommend you maintain a master list of your top volunteers and supporters — whether 50 or 5,000. Kept track of each phone call, note, or half an hour of face time.
Good Fundraising Campaigns have the ability to say Thank You in a way that is meaningful, sincere and everlasting. Sometimes its the little things that count.
New technology DOES have its place, but it just does not take the place of genuine face to face conversation. After all, giving remains a PERSONAL business and still requires a personal touch!
