Here’s some more heartening information from Penelope Burk’s recent research on donor attitudes. You can read a summary from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s March article about her research. Burk surveyed over 17,000 people in January who had donated an average of $11,500 last year and asked them about their philanthropic plans for 2009.
The good news is that over 52% of donors said they would give this year about the same as last year. And only 17.5% planned to give less. However, at that point, 30% said it was too soon to say what they would do.
Of those who planned to give at least as much as last year, 50% said they were willing to make compromises in other areas of their life to do so.
And donors who needed to cut back were making smaller gifts rather than stopping their giving completely.
So this shows that many, many donors are still very much committed to their causes, and that they will keep giving as long as they possibly can.
I am just so impressed with donors who are willing to make compromises in other areas of their lives in order to keep giving. Now that is a commitment! And when you have donors who are totally, passionately connected to your cause, they will stick with you no matter what.
The golden key here is: what are you doing to keep your donors happy, informed and connected?
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