Are You Missing Half Your Donors?

For over 35 years, we have been conducting donor and community research for local United Ways throughout the United States. One of the questions we have consistently asked is: “If you did not give to United Way in the past year, have you ever given to United Way?” We have found that the percentage of people who did not give to United Way this year but have given to United Way previously has increased over time. In every survey we have conducted since 2014, at least 50% of all people who did not give to United Way in the past year had given to United Way previously.

Here is a sobering thought: Half of the people in your community who did not give to your United Way have given to United Way previously. When you walk down the sidewalk or through a store, take a moment and think that one out of every two people you see has given to United Way at some point in their lives but did not give to your United Way this year. It makes you want to grab them by the collar and ask them “Why aren’t you supporting United Way?”

No Longer Asked, But They Would Give

But, it is not their fault – you can’t blame your former donors. The reality is that your former donors don’t give because they are no longer asked to give by their United Way. On average, 4% of United Way donors retire each year. How many of those retirees are you asking to give once they retire? Another common reason donors no longer give is that they changed employment and now work at a company that does not have a workplace campaign.

The vast majority of people who did not give to United Way this year, but have given previously, did not give for any reason other than they were not asked to give. How do we know? Because when we asked them, most people who have previously supported United Way indicated they would support United Way again if asked. This is especially true with retirees.

Moving Beyond Campaign

I can already hear some of you thinking “Hey! We give people an opportunity to give online on our website.” While this may be true, the challenge with providing an online giving opportunity is that your former donors need to “find” the giving opportunity. Workplace campaigns reach out to potential donors by bringing the giving opportunity to the donor. Most charitable giving occurs because the charity brings the giving opportunity to the potential donor through direct mail, social media, a golf tournament, or even cookie sales. Online giving portals fail to do this.

Although it is workplace campaign season for most United Ways, it is imperative to reach the other half of your donors. Your United Way can recapture former donors by offering them opportunities to give such as special events, affinity groups, or planned giving. There are United Ways that we have worked with that raise up to one-third of their total resources from these types of opportunities.

We are not suggesting that United Ways eliminate their workplace campaigns. Instead, we are suggesting that they actively seek to attract donors outside of the workplace campaign. Based on our research and the increasing percentage of people who have given to United Way previously, reaching donors outside of the workplace campaign will be essential to long-term success.

The other half of your donors are waiting. Now is the time to begin the other half of your fundraising.