Do you hear what I hear?
	Posted by Tad Druart at Dec 16, 2008 04:37 PM CST Categories: Constituent Empowerment , Email Marketing

As you have probably realized from some of my posts, being a good dad and husband is my top priority in life. Last night at bed time my 8-year old son pulled some of the books he no longer reads and some of the toys he no longer uses together to give to the Church so other kids who are less fortunate can get more this holiday season. Even if there is a part of him that is “just making more room” for what he hopes to get, the fact that he is thinking about others is a nice win for a dad.

I then went down to check my home email and look through the year end appeals that I am getting from organizations I have engaged with this year. There were many wonderful causes and wonderful appeals. Most were generic with greetings like “dear donor”, “dear friend” and “dear volunteer”.  One tried to be more personal, it read “Dear insert name”. As mistakes happen, I feel for that person and the organization (See Sally’s post on mistakes from earlier this year.) Some were customized around my interests and engagement through-out the year and were personalized with “Dear Tad” or “Mr. Druart” and one had “Dear Druart Family.”

The last one got me thinking about the best way to engage me as a donor this season and a topic that has been prevalent in this year’s nonprofit donor research – knowing your constituents better. 

A quick review – the Wired Wealthy Research showed most causes were not making the best possible use of their Web and email efforts to connect with important donors. Similarly,  according to initial findings from a new survey initiated by Bank of America, nearly 60% of wealthy households who stopped giving to a charitable organization attributed their change in philanthropic behavior to "no longer feeling connected to the organization."

There is a famous holiday song that has as part of the lyric “Do you hear what I hear?” In this holiday/year-end giving season what I hear from these donors is that we canal do more to connect with them.

Given the economy and competition for resources and dollars, it seems that hearing and knowing your best supporters – donors, volunteers, advocates and participants – is more important than ever.

As you’re sharing information, making appeals or updating your constituents over the coming weeks ands months here’s a few ideas to keep in mind:
1) Build in a feedback loop or opportunity to gather intelligence on your most important people resources (don’t just ask for money, ask for insight and ideas),
2) Listen to what those donors and other supporters are telling you and work that into your on-going and future campaigns,
3) Be open to changing the way you do things to better serve their needs for information and engagement,
4) Use the technology available to segment your constituents based on their needs/wants then match that to your needs (if they help you create the engagement they are more likely to participate).

Next year, I expect to receive an email solicitation that reads in part:

“Dear Tad,

Thank you and Nancy for the generous gift in June. We also enjoyed having you participate in our run last August. As you, Nancy and the kids plan for your holiday giving, I hope you’ll consider expanding your support to include…”

The more you know and engage me the harder is it to say “no.”   If you get my son or daughter to do the ask then you’re golden, but that’s another post. 

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