Jonah Halper shares some insight from his book he is currently writing, Date Your Donors. The book is set to release sometime during the summer of 2015.

1. By Jonah Halper

2. Nobody's Fool: Chipping Away on
Donor Trust
There is nothing more damaging to a relationship than betraying
one’s trust, and in marriage, trust is the bedrock of a long lasting
relationship.
While betrayal is most often portrayed as infidelity, the reality is
that it isn’t usually a single shock to the system that undoes a
relationship. It tends to be small betrayals. Small lies, half truths
and other actions where a partner feels like they aren’t playing
on the same team as their significant other.
Relationships in non profit fundraising are also beset by these
small betrayals. Here are 4 common practices, where the
organizations may think that they are helping their cause, but in
fact are chipping away at their donor support

4. Misrepresentation
We have all received those letters that seem to
come from an official government agency (better
open it, don’t want to get into trouble!) or an
envelope that makes us think there is a check
inside (Woohoo! Money!)
Yes, you got me to open it and improved your
direct mail open rate, but as soon as I see what it
really is, I feel like a fool and not in any giving
mood.

6. Similar to #1, but the deception is more than skin deep. Whether
it is a phone call, email or blog article, there is often the opening
line that leads us to believe the organization has something that
will benefit me, and that needs to be acted upon RIGHT NOW
Once I let them have my attention , I quickly realize that they are
self serving and they are the one’s that feel a sense of
urgency…not me
The most recent violator of this false sense of urgency, are blog
posts that bait me into clicking through to the article by teasing a
sense that I NEED to read it! NOTE: If you found this article on
Facebook, I just did it to you!

8. Auto-Renew Subscriptions
How many times have you found yourself automatically billed
for a magazine, when you didn’t renew? This is a marketing
tactic called opt-out marketing and sales, when the customer (I
use that term loosely) is billed without their knowledge, simply
because their initial purchase period ended
Believe it or not, some organizations will assume that if you
have been a supporter for a number of years, they will assume
that you will want to continue your support if they are unable to
reach you in person, and put a recurring pledge on the books
If you didn’t opt-in for the donation, chances are that it will
leave a very bad taste in your mouth. No giving should do that.

10. Many organizations do admirable work engaging
people through service and volunteerism only to
quickly turn on them for financial support
Bait them with volunteerism and then tackle them with
donation requests. One of the biggest aggressors of this
is the American Red Cross
As soon as you give blood you can expect a barrage of
phone calls from the American Red Cross asking you
for donations. It is obnoxious, disruptive, and a
betrayal of your time and energy