Ron Sellers is the President of Grey Matter Research and Consulting. Since 1987, Ron has conducted consumer research for U.S. Governmental agencies, major automotive companies and retail brands. His work is concentrated on non-profit organizations that are trying to make a difference in the world, such as American Bible Society, The Assemblies of God, The American Red Cross, Make a Wish Foundation, and World Vision. Grey Matter exists with “a passion for research that makes a difference,” serving both Christian and secular organizations to better understand donors and help them make good decisions. In conjunction with BBS & Associates, Ron recently released a study on lapsed donors with the goal of helping organizations re-engage them and preventing future lapses in giving. Recently, Tim Deatrick sat down with Ron to discuss his research and how it might influence church leaders’ thinking about lapsed givers.
TD: In light of your research, what is one of the broad statements you would like to make about the psychology of givers who lapse?
RS: If you don’t have a plan for giving, it becomes real easy to simply be impulsive or reflexive in your response to ministries. There are a lot of solicitations that regularly come to givers, but many of them aren’t really doing anything new. It’s the same story of the good work they’re doing and will continue to do, and the giver’s responses to those appeals have little to do with the content or the messaging. Food pantries are still feeding the hungry, prison ministries are still ministering to prisoners, homeless shelters are still serving the homeless, and so forth.
TD: You have conducted prior research with regard to lapsed donors. As you reviewed the results of your latest research on the topic, were there particular things that you anticipated that were confirmed?
RS: Yes. First, people don’t think about giving to the church as much as churches think about it. People are not as loyal to a brand as companies think they are. In many cases, people don’t know what’s going on in their own giving. They think, for example, they’ve given within the last two months, when in reality, they haven’t given for fourteen months. There is a disconnect between how much and how frequently they think they give compared to the reality of their giving.
Second, people are not as connected to the messaging as organizations think they are. Think about some of the ads we’ve seen in Super Bowl commercials. Everyone remembers the commercial about the cowboys herding cats. But can they remember the name of the company associated with it? Advertisers know that an ad doesn’t begin to resonate with the consumer until they’ve been exposed to 6-10 repetitions.
Third, human nature likes to delude itself. For example, “I know I’m overweight, but I’ll join the gym next month.” Or, “I know my blood sugar is high, but I’m not going to reduce my sugar intake until I get through the holidays.” We see this in human behavior all the time. Many of the donors who responded to our questionnaire insisted they were just paused, but when you haven’t given in 22 months, you haven’t paused.
Finally, we know that pastors and church leaders are concentrating heavily on their work. The congregation may find the church important, but not nearly to the degree of pastors and staff. In many cases, donors don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know the future direction of the church, the financial needs of the church, how the church uses the funds they give, what impact is being made, or how decisions are made about expenditures. When donors see even the slightest change, such as a new welcome booth in the lobby, they assume the church is doing fine financially. After all, they don’t spend money on home improvements unless they have the money to do so. There is a huge communication gap between what we think givers know and believe, and what they actually know and believe.
TD: So were there any new findings uncovered from the research?
RS: We found that ministries are very good at customer service. They are good at back office accuracy in recording gifts and acknowledging gifts in a timely manner because they don’t want to upset their donors. But, what we found is that only 1% of lapsed donors admitted they were no longer interested in the organization and did not want to be contacted any further.
That said, lapsers are not upset, rather they have either lost interest in the organization or have had a life event that has redirected their giving to satisfy an immediate felt need. For example, they may have a family member who has been diagnosed with cancer, so now they’re going to redirect their giving to cancer research. For the most part, lapsed donors are satisfied with the work of the organization. What’s missing is a real sense of connection with the organization. They don’t see how the ministry demonstrates how their gifts are making a difference. And, organizations are not providing information about ways they can show support beyond giving, such as through volunteering. So the majority of donors are going away because they have become disinterested.
TD: What are some positive steps churches can take to retain givers and re-engage with lapsed givers?
RS: Here are some of the insights that BBS & Associates believe are important.
Number 1 – Do a better job of informing people about their giving behavior. Don’t be afraid to report to them what they have done historically and why they should continue to give. We overestimate their own gift tracking.
Number 2 – Help donors feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves and that they are accomplishing something. Organizations that solicit for underprivileged child sponsorships are successful because donors can see the child’s development and receive important updates on progress. The donor can get helpful feedback, such as, “Because you gave, we were able to buy a goat and now we have milk every day. Or, because you gave, my mother was able to pay my school registration fees.” What did my gift do? Did it produce a specific outcome? Or did it just go into a black hole with all of the other gifts? Never underestimate the story of one. Giving involves the rational brain as well as the emotional brain. The details hit the rational brain. You helped this person or this initiative in this measurable way with your gift. The emotional brain is engaged when donors also feel that they have done something good with their gift.
TD: What role does donor fatigue play in causing a giver to lapse?
RS: Donor fatigue is a major and top donor issue. Mid level donors want to make a difference, while major wants to leave a legacy that will outlive them. There is no fatigue involved in legacy gifts. They want to make it personal and special. It can be challenging at times, but the givers are up for the challenge because they have articulated the personal goal they are pursuing.
If a major donor becomes fatigued, it’s only because they feel they have become an ATM to the organization. They keep giving but the organization only wants more and then fails to articulate satisfactory impact or results. If the giver is excited about the organization and the work it’s doing, they’ll keep going. The problem with fatigue lies within the organization, not the donor.
Churches and organizations severely overuse words like urgent and crisis. Everything is always a crisis, and the donor keeps giving, but the problem never goes away. Repetitive messaging without results will eventually get tuned out. This is why we see such a high turnover rate with coaches of sports teams. Overused words without results create players that tune out the coach.
TD: Ron, I’ve enjoyed our conversation. What is something you would like to say as a closing statement at the end of our time together?
RS: I cannot overstate the importance of connection. That is the single most important issue that I see both personally and professionally. In our research with donors, we know that 10% said they don’t understand the mission of the ministry. Which means 90% do feel they have a grasp of the mission. 13% say they don’t feel passionate about the mission of the ministry. Again, that means that 87% do feel a sense of enthusiasm about the work that is being done.
It is three to four times more likely that donors simply don’t feel close to the ministry or connected to the mission or goals of the ministry in any way. They don’t feel like they belong or they’re really involved. That doesn’t mean that the pastor has to do all of the work when it comes to connection. But a good pastor with leadership skills can marshal key leaders to make sure that everyone gets connected and stays connected.
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Ministry to lapsed givers is an important part of your church’s discipleship strategy. MortarStone data analytics can help you identify who the lapsed givers are and help you design a strategy to help close the back door and keep them connected. For more information on how MortarStone can help, you can request a free demonstration and trial subscription to our data analytics software today!
For more information about Ron Sellers and Grey Matter Research, visit their website or follow Ron on LinkedIn.