b'DAYTODAYPractical help with the operations and ministry of your organization FINDING FUNDSRoy JonesWhere Have My Donors Gone?Is generosity for Americas poor coming to an end?D espite some recent trends, Americangiving as sustainer or monthly gifts, via credit philanthropy is alive and well. However,card or pre-authorized check. The time to con-there are specific techniques in donorvert donors to sign up for a sustainer program is generosity that are not only dead but have beenwhen they make their second or third gifts in a six feet under for more than a decade.90-day period. There are software programs and apps to help you manage a process like this. Trust me, they are worth every penny. 3.Major gifts are growing. The number of donors giving under $1,000 a year is declining signifi-cantly, while the number of donors giving an annual $10,000+ has grown exponentially. Have you wondered why donations to your organiza-tion are down, when all the trade journals announce a record-breaking fundraising year? The answer is simple. Major gifts do not happen organically. They are mission critical and require engagement with specific people to ask for spe-cific amounts of money to meet specific needs. 1.Direct mail has changed. Direct mail (DM)If you dont have a major gift coach or counsel, for decades has been the primary convertergo find one. Theyll pay for themselves in 90 (technique for accepting cash donations).days. If you dont have a major gift officer on Today, DM has shifted to a driver channel,your team, make that an immediate priority. driving donors to give via your website, events, Roy, CFRE, is a nonprofit leader4.Are you offsetting attrition? Donors are lapsing who has worked with more thanand individual meetings. Five years ago, 80 per- at a faster rate than ever before. According to the 70 missions, shelters, and foodcent of DM donors used the preprinted reply banks. He has more than 35 yearsenvelope you sent them to send a donation,Association of Fundraising Professionals, the of experience in leading nonprofitaverage donor retention rate is hovering around organizations. He now serves asand a decade ago it was nearly 100 percent.4045 percent across the nonprofit sector. This the chief development officer atToday, only about half of DM donors use those Eckerd Connects. envelopes. NOTE: Im not saying to cancel yourmeans that if 100 donors give to your organiza-Note: Roy donated more than 200DM programs. But it is critical now to measuretion each year, only about 40 of those donors will hours serving our members lastDM as a driver, not just a converter. Yourgive again the following year. A decade ago, the year. He offers a free, one-hournational retention rate was closer to 65 percent. major donor consultation to allfundraising channels must work together.Do you want to grow? Your first job is to offset Citygate Network members. Email him at rjones@fitfundraising.com2.Set it and forget it. More and more annual-fundattrition. Win back the lapsed donors, or go find to schedule a consultation. donors are looking for ways to do their annualnew ones. It is that simple. \x0348 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022'