In the July issue of the Entrepreneur Magazine there is an article written by Neale Martin about how market shifts can disrupt even the most powerful habits of regular customers and how this current financial meltdown is the single biggest market disruption we have ever lived through.

He goes on to suggest 5 ways to get customers back in the habit of buying from you and I thought I would revise them to suggest to my fellow non profit leaders 3 ways to get our donors to keep supporting us.

1. Try to get your donor to donate something – anything.

During these times we want our donors to donate anything to us. Our goal is to get them to continue to support you with any amount of money. Once the donor commits at this level for a month or longer then you can strategize ways for them to increase their gift. Neale, states that the goal here is to reestablish purchase behavior and I say the goal here is to establish or reestablish donor loyalty and consistent giving.

2. Recognize the reason that the donor initially donated to you may no longer hold.

In the book “ The Seven Faces of philanthropy: A New Approach to Cultivating Major Donors” Russ Prince and Karen File state that there are a myriad of concerns, interests, needs, and motivations to why people give. And sometimes those reasons change. Spend some time with your donors to determine if you, the organization or the population you serve still have relevance to them or if there interests have changed.

3. Listen to your donors

Often we share and share and share about our organizations and all the good we are doing but we may not take as much time to listen to the donor. Feedback is good and can help you refine your approach to prospect development or donor care.

These are three approaches that we have tried to implement in our organization. I will let you know how and if they are successful.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions to maintain or increasing gifts during these times? If so, please share them in the comments.