The Time I Lost a $100,000 Gift

Do you want to know one of my all-time favorite fundraising stories? Even if I don’t look so great in it? I’ll share it with you, because I think it might be helpful to you.

I was working in a major gifts fundraising capacity. Our fiscal year was coming to an end. I had a $100,000 donor who had not yet closed for the year. I wasn’t worried though. We had been in touch frequently, knew they were supportive of the cause – passionately – and liked the work we were doing.

But then, with a few weeks left, I reached out to remind them about our fiscal year ending (which oh, by the way was not a December 31 date), and to ask if they would renew.

And they said to me – Susan, we love the organization. We couldn’t be prouder to be affiliated. We love you. But we just can’t give right now. Our business is having some cash flow issues. Sorry.

SORRY?? I wanted to scream!

I thought - But I won’t hit my goal then!! How could this happen?

Have you ever thought like this? Where you are more focused on hitting your revenue goal than actually serving your donors and strengthening your mission?

I took a breath and responded back to the donor, I completely understand and I am so sorry to hear that your business is having cash flow issues. Do you mind if I check in to see if anything changes in a few months?

The donor responded – of course!

So I did. I stayed in touch. I kept the donor engaged and alerted them to our activities.

And a few months later, a check for $100,000 arrived from this donor.

What can we learn from this little story?

It’s that donors are people.

↪️ People with lives.

↪️ People with families.

↪️ People with businesses.

↪️ People who are not thinking about when a nonprofit’s fiscal year is.

↪️ People who are not thinking or caring about whether the Major Gifts Officer is going to meet their revenue goals or not.

↪️ People with other priorities.

And most people don’t remember every action they did in the past (tell me what you had for lunch 3 weeks ago).

Think about yourself. You’re a person, right?

Do you know what nonprofits you donated to last year? What about 5 years ago? Do you keep a spreadsheet of this so you know who you gave to and how much and when (no, just me?)?

A follow-up question to you, a person – do you know when the fiscal year is for the nonprofits that you support? Do you care?

So now let’s go back to you and how you’re going to raise more money for your organization.

I’ve talked before about how important it is to look at your current donors and within your database.

While you’re looking, make sure you spend some time searching for donors that used to give but are not anymore, also known as lapsed donors.

What is a lapsed donor?

A lapsed donor is someone who used to donate to your organization but no longer does. Some organizations may count this as at least 12 months from their last gift. Some may do it based on their fiscal year. Some may use some other criteria. But the key is, they are not current donors.

Why could a donor stop donating? Let’s review two possible reasons:

1️. They forgot or the timing wasn’t right

Remember when I said donors are busy? While you and I may be thinking each and every day about your organization and how you are going to hit your revenue goals, your donors are not. Your donor does not begin the day and review their to-do list and think - have I donated to this favorite charity of mine? NO, they’re not doing that. Maybe they are thinking at the end of the year about this, but even then – they may forget.

So what can you do about it?

✔️ Remind them. Not just once. Multiple times during throughout the year.

Thanks for your gift.

Thanks for your gift of this amount.

Thanks for sending a gift from your Donor Advised Fund or a gift of stock or by check.

Remember that gift you gave in November? Here’s what we’ve done since then.

✔️ Tell them about the impact of their support and that you (the nonprofit) also did not forget.

✔️ Make sure they feel valued and appreciated of their support.

2. They gave at an event

I often hear from nonprofits about how they used to host a big event and a donor gave (often sizeably) but now the event is different or isn’t happening at all anymore and how difficult it is to engage those donors.

Let’s think about why the donor gave due to the event?

✔️ Someone asked them to give.

✔️ They believe in your mission.

➡️ Are those factors still true? If so, go back to them – remind them of their past giving, remind them of the event they attended with the speaker or honoree or performance – and ask them, would you consider donating again

➡️ The need is still there. So help make an impact.

Remember that a lapsed donor already took the action to donate once. So they must believe in what you have to say at least a little! Maybe they no longer care about your work.

But maybe they do.

So go back to them. Because maybe, just maybe your $100,000 donor will come back to you.

Need some more help? This is exactly the type of work we can do together. Contact me to learn more.