Donor fatigue is when people stop donating to charities due to pressure, overstretched budgets, or frustration with poorly run charities. Charities can avoid this by running concise campaigns and demonstrating their work, while donors can set an accurate budget and donate non-cash items.
Donor fatigue is a phenomenon where people no longer donate to charity, even though they have donated in the past. There are a number of causes for donor fatigue, including pressure to give, overstretched budgets, and frustration with poorly run charities and giving drives. Many charities work hard to avoid donor fatigue as it negatively affects their funds raised for the year. There are a variety of ways that donors and charities can avoid donor fatigue.
The most benign cause of donor fatigue is simply budget depletion. Many people who are involved in charitable giving set aside a specific budget each year for this purpose. When the budget runs out, they can no longer donate. Events like natural disasters can wipe out a charitable home’s giving budget, as was the case in 2005 when people donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita followed in Katrina’s footsteps. Donors wanted to help but did not have the financial means to do so.
Smaller, regionally based charities often suffer from donor fatigue after major disasters. In the United States, for example, many people donated to victims’ funds after the 2001 terrorist attacks. While their funds certainly helped someone somewhere, their donations took money out of their communities, and many small charities reported a decrease in donations for the fourth quarter of 2001 as a result.
In other cases, people get frustrated with the constant requests for donations. Charities that constantly send out mailers, hold phone units, and use other tactics to solicit donations can tap into the patience of their potential donors, who are starting to feel irritated, rather than philanthropic. Many charities try to run one major campaign a year for this reason, although donations are of course welcome throughout the year.
Finally, some donors get frustrated when they donate to charity and nothing seems to happen, or when the charity seems really badly run. Constant changes in staff, campaign approaches, and administration are signs that a charity may be in trouble, and donors may prefer to send their funds to causes that actually seem to be working. This can be frustrating for fledgling charities, which can’t do a good job because they don’t have enough funds.
Charities can take steps to avoid donor fatigue, such as running limited and concise campaigns and demonstrating the work they do to interested donors. Donors can avoid feeling overburdened by setting an accurate budget for charitable giving and not be afraid to say they have given when asked for donations that exceed their budgets. It’s also a good idea to research charities to make sure they’re legitimate if you care how your donations are used.
Donors can also consider the fact that donations don’t have to be cash only. Donors can offer things like blood to the Red Cross, which is always in need of blood donations, and items like canned goods, blankets, books, and old clothes for a variety of causes, from churches to food banks.
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