Over the years, United Ways have watched their donor rolls shrink, despite all their efforts to try to attract and retain donors. This begs the question “Where did your donors go?” The simple truth is that most of your donors have not gone anywhere. In community after community, our research has found that over half of all people who did not give to United Way this year, have given to United Way in the past. One out of every two people you will see in your community today will have given to United Way in the past, but not this year.

The good news is that your donors, or former donors, are all around you. The challenge is how to get them back. Here are four ways you can use at your United Way to get your donors back.

1. Retain Your Retirees

On average, 4% of all United Way donors retire each year. Four percent does not seem like a lot until you consider the fact that you could lose 40% of your donors to retirement over ten years. Make it a high priority to identify your donors that will be retiring soon so that you can follow-up with them directly once they retire. You can ask donors if they plan on retiring, or how many years they have given to United Way, on your pledge form. Once you have identified donors who may be retiring soon, check your donor database for all upcoming retirees who did not give this year and contact them directly – direct mail still works for retirees. Another way to retain retirees is forming a Retirees United group.

2. Ask Outside of the Workplace

Many of your former donors are no longer employed at companies where you are running workplace campaigns. Our research has found that one of the top reasons former donors do not give to United Way is that they were no longer asked. To get these former donors back, you will need to offer your donors an opportunity to engage with your United Way outside of the workplace campaign.

These engagement efforts must be more than putting a “Donate” button on your website and hoping former donors find it. You must reach out to your former donors and ask them to engage with your United Way through special events, affinity groups, volunteerism, and alternative giving opportunities.

Providing opportunities for donors to engage with your United Way is intentional and deliberate work. You must put the same effort into reaching out to potential donors in your community as you do organizing and conducting workplace campaigns. To learn more about how to create high return special events and revenue generating affinity groups, check out our webinars “Five Essentials for High Return Special Events” and “Maximize Your Affinity Group Membership and Revenue.”

3. Communicate Your Impact

Our research has found that some former donors no longer give because they prefer other charities. If a donor has given to United Way in the past, and no longer gives to United Way because they prefer other charities, what went wrong? The answer from our research is that most United Way donors do not understand the impact of their contribution – in short, they do not know what United Way did with their money.

Attracting these former donors back will require United Way to articulate a simple value proposition, such as “When you give to United Way you are reducing poverty” or “Giving to United Way ends homelessness.” Value propositions like these make it clear to a donor what their contribution will accomplish, but the ability to articulate these kinds of value propositions requires that your United Way have a clear focus. For step-by-step instructions on crafting powerful messages that compel donors to give, check out our webinar “How to Craft Messages that Engage Your Donors During a Crisis.”

4. Adopt an Issue Focus

An issue-focused United Way has a clear focus on addressing a single issue like poverty, hunger, early childhood education, homelessness, the graduation rate, etc. They have a bold goal like “Lift 3,000 families out of poverty by 2030” or “All children ready for kindergarten by 2025.” When a United Way is focused on one issue with a single bold goal, they are easily able to articulate a value proposition which attracts and engages donors.

Issue-focused United Ways offer donors opportunities to engage with United Way and donate to impact an issue in their community. Issue-focused United Ways form affinity groups to reduce poverty or hold special events to end homelessness. Issue-focused United Ways provide opportunities for people to volunteer to increase the graduation rate and provide alternative giving opportunities to end hunger.

Becoming issue-focused has many benefits for United Ways, including reduced designations, diversified resources, and engaging the younger generation. Find out if an issue focus is right for your United Way with our Introduction to an Issue Focus Board Retreat or give us a call and we’ll talk.

It is not difficult to find your former donors – they are all around you. Getting your donors back is a combination of providing them new opportunities to support your United Way while clearly communicating your impact.