CharityVillage® Research: First impressions affect donor response

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First impressions affect donor response
September 11, 1995; Canadian FundRaiser
How would your organization respond to over-the-phone donor inquiries? Rob Brown, President of Artsmarketing Services Inc., recently decided to find out. He took an impromptu snapshot of how charities are responding to unknown and first-time donors. He instructed his Manager of Communications, Melanie Lovering to conduct an informal survey, and handed her a $500 donations budget to work with. Brown knew he could make the point that donor loyalty begins with the first contact and is nurtured through reliable stewardship.
Lovering randomly selected 39 non-profit organizations (11 healthcare, 5 arts, 7 hospital/hospice, 5 child/youth, 2 international aid, and 9 miscellaneous). She called each during business hours, told them she wanted to make a charitable donation, and asked them to send her some general information about themselves. Key responses are recapped below.
First, you have to get through ....
Of the 39 charities, six provided a direct number in the phone book listed separately as their "donations department"; 15 answered their phones after one ring; 18 answered after two or three rings; five answered after four or more rings; and one did not answer the phone at all. Voicemail or an answering system as the first point of contact was used by 11, while 23 offered a live voice in the form of a receptionist. Before transferring the call, six put Melanie on hold, 35 transferred her two or fewer times before she talked to the right person, and four organizations made three or more transfers before she made a correct contact.
.... and then you wait
Having received Lovering's complete mailing information and a clear request for written materials through direct verbal relay, voice mail message or leaving a message with another person, eight organizations captured the donor's phone number for telephone follow-up and/or inclusion on their database, 25 actually sent information (and consequently received a $10 donation), and two offered to take a credit card donation on the phone immediately. As for the written information received, six took one week or less to fulfill the request, 15 took one to three weeks, and four took three weeks or longer.
Planned giving materials were covered somewhere in the literature of five organizations, 13 enclosed a personal note or cover letter with a real signature, 15 offered a reply card for enclosure with payment, 11 offered a reply card envelope with postage paid, 16 offered specific information about how donated funds are used and/or designated, and seven offered donors pre-set levels of membership within their organization.
For survey specifics or a complete copy of the findings, call Melanie Lovering at (416) 941-1041 Ext. 238.