Until I moved to the UK, I rarely heard the argument that charities were 'pestering' donors with too much information.
All the organizations that I worked or volunteered for in the US usually had the opposite problem...
too little communication.
They were constantly striving to do better.
I began to ponder the question.
The answer for me was crystal clear...
the US system works.
A higher percentage of Americans give to charity regularly, because the charities keep them informed and engaged.
And some British charities are getting the message too.
But is there such a thing as...
too much communication? I believe the answer is almost never.
The problems and complaints arise when charities treat all contacts the same.
What you need to do is find out early in your relationship with donors how often and what format they wish to receive updates on your work.
The good news is that in most cases it will also be the most economical and profitable.
Young donors will absolutely thrive on weekly (and sometimes even daily) information.
But they will prefer the format to be electronic.
Get used to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WordPress and whatever the next big thing that we are not even aware of yet.
The beauty is that all of those are essentially FREE and can be linked now so that it requires only a modest amount of your time.
With these frequent updates that keep your name and message in the forefront of their minds, they will be more engaged.
The direct benefits now include volunteers perhaps to organize events and raise money, but never forget that donors are for life if managed well.
Starving student volunteers of today are trustees and major donors of the future.
On the other end of the spectrum are older, more established donors (often the major donors of the present).
These are the individuals that will most often complain about their money being spent on...
all that fancy mail.
Many times they will want only periodic information; sometimes only your annual report.
The good news about this is that these people are also the ones that continue to rely upon costly printed snail mail.
As a small charity, it is a win-win; you save money by not mailing updates too frequently and you don't hear the complaints.
I would though caution to always keep these donors in the loop in other ways; such as the telephone.
If you have an event coming up, pick up the phone and use it as an opportunity to stay in touch between those quarterly or annual reports.
I encourage you to ask early in your relationship with donors and friends...
how would you like to receive updates and how often.
Then use your database to segregate those types of communication to make sure that everyone receives exactly the right amount of information for his or her needs.
After all, happy donors and friends are more likely to give more often and more money to your organization.