Tough love for digital fundraisers
Houston, we have a digital problem. As pressure mounts to raise more dollars from more sources, we’re seeing a growing trend toward amping up digital solicitations at the expense of relationship building.
Here’s one example: Call it “the pop-up problem.”
If you are familiar with Sea Change Insight Panels®, you know we regularly survey midlevel donors for our clients. Often, that involves inviting donors to explore a feature on the organization’s website to get feedback, and also to whet their appetite for deeper engagement. Increasingly, though, rather than reporting inspiration or delight after their visit, the donors express frustration, and sometimes even anger.
The reason is that many nonprofit websites are now festooned with fundraising pop-ups, page hijacks, and other in-your-face fundraising asks. Getting to the substance can feel like running a gauntlet of solicitations. It’s not just a matter of dismissing the pop-up to get to the content. It sends a message — and not the one you want to be sending to a generous donor. It says, “Your value to us is your wallet.”
One donor, who gives thousands each year to the organization we’re working with, didn’t hold back:
“I hate that you take the user directly to donations when they came to look at the issues. If you keep dunning me for more, you’ll get none next year.”
They are not alone.
To many donors, your website is your digital front door. Midlevel donors tell us the number one place they go when researching a potential donation is your website. When a potential donor, or an existing donor, experiences your site as ONE BIG ASK, you are squandering an important opportunity and possibly damaging a valuable relationship.
Your donors understand that you need to fundraise to support your mission. And in these unstable, uncertain times, the pressures are higher than ever on you to find new sources of income.
But when your donors perceive one of your most important digital assets as a shakedown instead of a source of deeper connection, you are eroding trust.
We’re not saying never solicit funds on your website. But do it strategically. Here’s a thought: some of our Insight Panel clients provide links for existing donors that automatically bypass the fundraising asks so that the donors can have an ad-free web surfing experience. That would be a good step toward making sure that your website builds rather than fractures donor relationships.
The pop-up problem is one of a number of concerning trends in the digital fundraising space. Consider this the first of an irregular series.
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Do you ever wonder what your best donors REALLY think?
The Sea Change Insight Panel® builds trust and community with your best donors while providing critical fundraising insights. Participation has been shown to increase donor loyalty and donor value.
Want to learn more? Drop Mark or Alia a line or send us an email at info@seachangestrategies.com.