Continued Sluggish Economy Has Charities On Ropes; Fundraising Expert Gail Perry's 4 Strategies to Help Weather Economic Storm

Whether you’re trying to raise funds with a small PTA bake sale or a major college scholarship, it’s tougher and tougher to get potential donors to part with their dollars. How can charities compete in these rough economic waters? Gail Perry, a nationally recognized fundraising expert and author of “Fired Up Fundraising” says that if you want to be on donors’ short list of favorite charities, be sure you give them what they are looking for today.
Gail offers these four tips:

1. Donors favor nonprofits that provide measurable results.
Perry says “the question is, are you providing results info to your donors? How are you offering it? And are you making it transparently accessible and easy to find? Sharing this data builds trust. The more donors trust you the more they are likely to stay with you.”
2. When donors feel over-solicited, they are more likely to stop giving.
Ms. Perry says that when donors think a charity is asking too often, they are turned off, and they drop away. She suggests you send monthly news to your donors about your good work, be sure your communication in between solicitations is appealing and don’t ever re-solicit until you first thank your donors and share your results with them.
3. Donors are now more influenced by lower fundraising costs.
According to Perry, donors look at the percentage of fundraising and administrative costs as an indicator of efficiency. “You want to come across as a well-run organization. Donors want to give to charities that are a good investment; that get a lot out of each dollar. AND donors want to be assured that their gift is not going to get frittered away in overhead or administrative expenses,” says Perry.
4. Donors are increasingly favoring local projects instead of regional or national causes.
Perry says that surprisingly, despite all the international disasters that get so much publicity, charities are better off if you are serving your local community. If you are a national organization, emphasize your work at the community level. Send donors information about what you are doing in their own community if you can. If you are local, play it up!