Tsunami donors - what’s the best strategy?

Posted by irishg on March 15th, 2005 at 05:17am

Following the Asian Tsumani, the world experienced a “flash philanthropy” event on an unprecedented scale that has left relief and development nonprofits with an unusual problem — what to do with all of these new donors?

In the massive public response to the event, millions of dollars in one-time relief gifts were donated by people who do not regularly give to overseas emergency and development causes. The recipient NGOs are facing a challenge now to understand what these tens of thousands of new donors represent in terms of long-term growth of their donor lists. Their next step is to effectively engage these new donors in a stewardship program that maintains them as active donors in the future.

However, previous experience of flash philanthropy events, such as 9/11 and the 2003 earthquake in Iran, has shown that online donors who make single-gifts in response to high-profile events such as natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and advocacy/action campaigns do not respond well to traditional renewal messaging that organizations use with their existing donor base. Flash Philanthropy donors are a distinct category of donor, requiring a specific stewardship approach to increase their renewal and retention over long-term and annual cycles.

One of the keys to understanding flash philanthropy donors n is to recognize that their gift was primarily motivated by the nature of the crisis and not by the organization. Often, these donors selected the organization as a convenient channel for “doing something to help”, and it should not be assumed that they have any great interest in supporting other programs within the organization, or even in supporting the organization’s work in general.

The focus of communications to these donors, then, should be squarely rooted in the primary event that motivated their first gift. Moving them to a long-term giving commitment may be most effectively accomplished by transforming that story of immediate, emergency needs into a story of long-term needs.

For organizations that are regionally focused and have long-standing programs on the ground in the affected regions, the primary message to deliver to flash philanthropy donors is about the need for a commitment to the reconstruction effort that may take months or years. Their gift was just the start of the process, and that if they want to make a real contribution to the well-being of the affected population, they need to make a commitment to be there for the reconstruction as well as the relief. The organiztaion they gave their donation to is committed to be there for the longer term, and, as donors, they should be equally committed.

For organizations working on crisis response and development issues all around the world, the key message for engaging flash philanthropy donors should be one of preparedness for future crises. Donors can be engaged to hekp ensure that systems are developed to better respond to emergencies. Lives can be saved if we follow the motto to “be prepared”, and a continuing commitment from donors will help protect vulnerable people in the future.

These are just starting points, and each organization will need to nuance their own messaging campaigns to convert as many one-time relief donors into monthly reconstruction donors as possible.

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