20-Question-FINAL-2016-r2

You think you’re speaking to everyone, but in
fact you’re mostly speaking to older folks.
What you need to know: the young will likely always be the smallest slice of the
charity pie in the US, for obvious economic reasons.
Over his long career, Jeff Brooks has observed this behavior: “At age 55, people start
to become reliably charitable. They’re starting to have some extra money.” Their kids
are through college. The house will be paid for soon. There is a bit of surplus money.
“These households start to give to charity. And their giving ramps up until age 65,
where it plateaus. It continues from then on until something intervenes.” Something
like illness, or destitution, or death. A client of mine received their first check from a
donor when the woman was age 55; the last gift came in when the woman was 101, just
before she passed.
I write the direct mail appeals for a major metropolitan hospital system serving
a population of over 3 million. This hospital system has tens of thousands of donors.
And, since most were former patients, we know exactly when those donors were born.
The average donor supporting this particular hospital system is 75 years old.
Read that again. And again. Because this might be the one detail that’s holding your
NGO back: you think you’re speaking to everyone, but in fact you’re mostly speaking
to older folks.
regularly
checks
Facebook
for photos of
grandkids
There are consequences. Respect them.
Around 2012 the AIGA (essentially, the graphics artists’ trade group in the United States)
issued an advisory: “For eyes over 60, use 14 point type for body copy.”
Lest you forget: a good “customer service experience” is the chief reason why
donors stick with you. For eyes of “a certain age,” 14 pt. type will be a good customer
service experience ... while 12 pt. type will not be.
Now. You. Know.
9
20 Questions RE Donor Communications © Tom Ahern, 2016