Acquisition and Retention...The Great Divide

It's a widely accepted fact that it costs more to get than it does to keep. Whether you're talking about employees, customers, goods & services, or donors & volunteers - acquisition requires considerably more time and resources than retention.

So why, after so many years and so many articles educating us about the cost of acquisition, are we still struggling with embracing retention techniques that work?

Allow me to share a personal ancedote that is probably all too familiar to many:

I received a telephone call "on behalf of" a particular organiztion, asking for my support of programs and services for victims of crime. The fella on the phone was good - when I hesitated, he quickly added that many of the victims were women, and I was sold. Prior to this phone call, I had supported (again, through telephone solicitation) an organization providing support and services to burn unit patients. In both cases, the support was provided through the purchasing of tickets to a charitable event.

Being a researcher and voraciously curious by nature, I checked out both of these organizations and found that they outsource their calling/fundraising programs to the same company. Not such a rarity. But neither is the fact that I received no further communications from either organization to which I provided my financial support, aside from receiving the event tickets.

So what was my motivation for supporting these organizations? Was it the appeal of attending yet one more hockey game, or was it the opportunity to help support programs and services which resonated with me as being of great value? For me, it was the latter.

So what could/should these organizations have done once they "got"me to help ensure they would "keep"me? Well, at the very least they could have put the same amount of effort into retention as they did into acquisition. A phone call or letter to let me know the outcome of their fundraising drive - How much did they raise? How was/will the money be spent? How about a personal story from someone helped by the organization? A simple "thank you" would have gone a long way.

But none of these things happened. Instead, the next communication I received was another telephone solicitation call. That's not good customer service, by anyone's measure.

The moral of this story? Take great care with those things you value. More than 80% of charitable donations are made by individuals like you & me. Once your organization has "sold us" on your cause, show us you treasure our support. We'll provide you with a great return on your investment.