|
|
|||||
|
|||||
| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Six out of seven charities flunk responsiveness testby Steve Thomas
March 27, 1996; Canadian FundRaiserLate last August, 75 Canadian charities received a modest handwritten letter from one Dora Smith. Dora wrote that her husband, who had died the previous March, had much admired their organization.
"I would like to support some sort of the organizations he believed in", she stated. "Do I have to become a member?" She pleaded for large print as her eyesight wasn't as good as it once had been. She was quite hopeful that there might be some money for the recipient charity upon settlement of her husband's estate. Finally, to pay for the trouble, she enclosed a $5 bill. Dora could have been from anywhere in Canada, as she said she was staying with a friend for a period in Strathroy, Ontario.
Before I tell you how the letter was answered, let me give you a bit of background. Several years ago, at the International Fund Raising Workshop in the Netherlands, I had met and become a disciple of Ken Burnett, the father of relationship fundraising. I asked Ken to be one of our headline speakers at the first annual Fund Raising Congress in Toronto last November. Ken agreed and suggested that we repeat an exercise he had carried out several times in Britain and the United States to measure how involved our charities were in creating relationships with their donors.
So, Dora was actually a test. Her letters were written by two teenaged girls and the address was my mother's summer residence. The $5 bills were mine, however, and I guess that's one reason why I have a proprietary interest in this whole exercise.
We set a two-month deadline. By late October, we hadn't heard from 15 charities (20 per cent) and only three subsequently sent Dora a letter. I will not release their names publicly but they included some well-known organizations. Eighteen charities (23 per cent) did send Dora something but they obviously didn't read her letter at all. They just threw some pamphlets into an envelope and sent it out.
Thirty-one organizations (37 per cent) were middlers - they responded to some of the clues but not others. Common faults were forgetting to extend condolences - Dora was still very much affected by her husband's death - and ignoring her request for large type.
Eleven charities (15 per cent) responded very well. They got all the clues and sent back first-rate informational packages geared to Dora's letter. The Honour Roll:
Carol Ethier offered to drive out to Strathroy to see Dora, Bill Hallett photocopied his Planned Giving brochure into very large type, Jackie Gorenstein wrote a warm handwritten note encouraging Dora to call her, and Jerry Borins wrote a long enthusiastic letter about his experiences volunteering for B'Nai Brith. Congratulations to these and all the other honour roll members! Jerry Borins, B'nai Brith Foundation Carol F. Ethier, The Canadian Hearing Society Foundation Jackie Gorenstein, The Arthritis Foundation William D. Hallett, YMCA of Greater Toronto Ariella Hostetter, Canadian Hunger Foundation Marilyn Kearns, Scouts Canada Tracy L. Paterson, The Zoological Society of Metropolitan Toronto Anne Philpot, CUSO Michael Prencipe, Nature Conservancy of Canada Mary Dawn Thomson, Art Gallery of Ontario Barbara Walkden, Canadian Bible Society If you wonder whether or not your were part of the test and how you fared, please do not hesitate to call me. If Dora is in your database, please delete her, because my parents are getting a bit tired of the bushelfuls of mail that have resulted from this experiment.
When these results were unveiled in November, Ken Burnett was quick to note that Dora's letter could well have arrived on a bad day for other organizations. Nevertheless, the fact that 85 per cent of the charities did not give Dora what she needed is indicative that non-profits in Canada, like non-profits in the United States and Great Britain, have a long way to go in developing good public and donor services.
Burnett offers ten keys to world-class donor service that are applicable to each organization involved in fundraising today:
For more information, Relationship Fund Raising - A Donor Based Approach to the Business of Raising Money by Ken Burnett offers helpful strategies and tips for building successful relationships with donors. The book is available from Non-Profit Partners 1-800-860-4490. Steve Thomas is a Toronto-based direct response fund raising consultant. He can be reached at (416) 690-8801.
- Be committed;
- Be properly resourced;
- Be consistent;
- Be quick;
- Be appropriate;
- Be personal;
- Be known;
- Be meticulous;
- Be there; and
- Be honest.
|
|||
