Things Your Donors Won't Tell You 10/10
© The Navigators
10. You are #13 on my giving list.
A few of your giving partners are thinking about dropping support for you but don't know how to tell you. What can you do from 100 or 1,000 miles away beside hope recipients 9, 10, 11, and 12 quit ministry so you can move up in the standings?
There's plenty you can do—especially now, during economic uncertainty. The obvious answer is communicate, communicate, communicate. But don't delay by undertaking a big newsletter mailing right now. Be more personal than that. If you already suspect three or four giving partners are drifting from you, do something personal for each one—one per day.
Pick up the phone and spend three minutes visiting. Or leave a message they they crossed your mind today. Give a 20-second ministry report on their voice mail.
Send a brief email with a short ministry report, a prayer request, and a sincere personal question about how they are doing.
Call or email saying you'd like to stop by and see them next time you are in their area (even if it is several weeks out). Put the seed-though in their mind.
Email a ministry story. Also tell them you were thinking of them today and wanted to catch a glimpse of what your ministry is like. An unfinished story will be even more effective!
Send a text message.
Connect on Facebook.
Once more—are you ready for this? Write a short, personal note. That's right—longhand! Two paragraphs on a small card, not on an 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper. Hand-address it, too. It won't take hours for you to do any of these things, but it will take hours to find three or four new partners to replace ones who stop giving!
