Latest / Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for Startup, Small, and Growing Nonprofits / When a Donor Complains: A 5-Step Response Plan for Nonprofit Leaders (Ep 61)
Transcript
- Matt Stockman (00:00) Donor sends you an email and they're not happy. Immediately your mind starts racing in that moment. Are they going to stop giving? Did we do something wrong? Do I need to stop everything and fix this right now? Donor complaints can feel like an emergency, especially when you're leading a small or a growing nonprofit. But not every complaint means you've made a mistake. And not every unhappy donor requires you to change course. Today I want to give you a simple five-step process for handling donor complaints without overreacting or getting defensive or giving away your responsibility to lead. Matt Stockman (00:40) Welcome to the Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for startup, small, and growing nonprofits. This podcast is here to help you build your nonprofit from the ground up on a strong, sustainable foundation by providing clear frameworks and practical tools and the real-world guidance that you can actually put into practice. I'm Matt Stockman. I'm a nonprofit growth coach, and I'm really glad you're here at Nonprofit Launch Plan. We believe that every successful nonprofit has to be operating at peak performance across six key areas. Those areas are leadership, fundraising, marketing, programs and services, operations, and finances. So on every episode of the podcast, we focus on one of these core areas to help you create lasting impact in your nonprofit. Now, before we dive into today's episode, If you like the kinds of things that you're learning and picking up from listening to the podcast, there's more in my free weekly email called the Nonprofit Launch Briefing. Every week I send out one meaningful email about something different than what we're talking about in the podcast. Strategies, practical tools, fundraising tips and insight, real-world guidance for startups, small and growing nonprofits. So if you're serious about building a healthy nonprofit that makes real impact, I'd love to have you on the list. Shoot me a quick email with a simple sign me up in the subject line. My email is Matt Matt at nonprofitlaunchplan.com. Sign me up in the subject line, Matt at nonprofitlaunchplan.com. I've had some candid conversations with nonprofit leaders throughout my career who, in that moment, are pausing to vent some frustration that, as you know, can come with your role of leader in your nonprofit at times. Their frustration is typically articulated in some slight variation of this statement. Running a nonprofit would be a whole lot easier if there weren't people involved in it. And obviously, moments of frustration like that and the things that we say in those moments are said and just because after all, the whole reason we get into this work to begin with is to impact people. But that said, one of the more delicate relationships that nonprofit leaders need to manage are those with donors. We've talked often that working with and developing donors and building a healthy financial foundation is almost entirely about building relationships. But as you grow your nonprofit, let's face it, at some point you will make a decision, large or small, that will not be to everyone's preference. And since donors have given you financial support, they sometimes believe that they have earned the right to give you their opinions and let you know if you've made a decision that they don't agree with or is not to their preference. A donor complaint can feel extremely large, especially when you're first starting out, and every dollar just feels so. Valuable. Our heart thinks, I've worked so hard to get this person to believe in what we're doing. And now they're upset about something. So they're probably going to stop giving. And then in situations like this, our instinct is often to go on the defensive or start over-explaining or immediately drop everything in an attempt to fix it, to address the complaint. None of those instinct reactions are either wise or necessary. Simply because not every complaint means that you did something wrong. In reality, what feels like a complaint is quite often just the expression of a preference by the person making the statement. You did X and they would have preferred Y. Or the complaint is based on false information. The person making the complaint thinks they know the details of the situation when they actually don't. So today's episode is all about some steps to take in managing donor complaints. When you get an email or a voicemail from a donor who seems upset, it immediately feels like there's a lot at stake. And we want a knee-jerk to alleviate that tension or pain. And what I'm asking you to do is to stop and don't do anything for 15 minutes. Get past the wave of emotions that's influencing you in that moment. Allow that time to clear your head. And then work through the steps that I've got for you to appropriately address and learn from this moment. I've got five steps that I want you to walk through in dealing with donor complaints. And I'm going to explain each one for you. They're listen, investigate, own, respond, and learn. Again, listen, investigate, own, respond, and learn. Okay, let's talk about listen. Listen to what they're saying. Or what they've written, and whatever you do, don't defend yourself too quickly. Let me say that again. Don't defend yourself too quickly. Resist immediately explaining or over-explaining why you did what you did. Your goal in this first step is to listen so that you can understand the complaint. It's at this point that you want to perhaps ask some questions to maybe bring some clarity to what they're actually struggling with. So your questions might be. What specifically is concerning you? What do you believe has happened from your perspective? What would you have expected us to do differently? A lot of times, there's a different or deeper concern underneath the donor complaint. So I encourage you to listen and ask questions to get to what the actual issue is. For example, too much direct mail may really mean I really prefer just to give it your end so you can stop sending me all these updates. Or all this printing and mailing seems expensive. Are you using my gifts responsibly? So the takeaway in this first step of listen is to understand thoroughly before you start to answer. So that's step one. Listen. Step two then is to investigate. What kind of complaint is this? Figuring out what the real problem is will inform how you handle it. So before you respond or jump to any conclusions, make sure you're clear on what kind of complaint this is. If necessary, just ask for a little time to look into this. Something like, hey, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I want to dig into this, so let me do some investigating and I'll get back to you. Here's what I mean by investigate: what kind of complaint this is. You can typically break Down complaints into one of four different kinds. The first and the most common complaint is we made a mistake. We sent a wrong receipt. We missed an acknowledgement. We ignored a donor preference. We somehow just made an error. These are pretty easy to own and to fix it. Sometimes the complaint isn't about what you did or didn't do, but rather your decision wasn't communicated. So if the nature of the complaint is we communicated poorly. I mean, the decision might have been fine, but the donor didn't understand it or wasn't informed about it at all. So it's either we made a mistake or we communicated poorly. Third, the complaint is simply that the donor has a preference. Like don't send so much mail, or don't advertise as much, or you know, you should talk more about this program or that program. In those situations, listen, take it in without assuming the organization needs to change anything. And then the fourth type of complaint comes from the donor who just wants control. Let me just state something really clearly. Financial support does not give somebody organizational authority. Let me say it again. Financial support does not give someone organizational authority. The principle here is giving creates partnership. It does not transfer leadership authority. So knowing the kind of complaint is important to know. How to navigate then the next three steps. First was listen, then investigate. Now you know what kind of complaint it is. And next, number three, is own. Apologize when an apology is warranted. some guidelines around this first. Don't apologize simply because somebody is unhappy. Do apologize quickly and clearly when you've actually made a mistake. We're sorry we sent you the don't wrong donor receipt. avoid saying we're sorry you felt that way. It's better to say, hey, we got that wrong. Here's how we're going to fix it. Sometimes the decision you made was right, but the communication wasn't so great. Be confident in your decision, but own the part that could have been better. Hey, we stand behind the decision that we made, but we really apologize. We didn't communicate that clearly. Small nonprofits actually have an advantage. Leaders can personally call the donor. You can get on the phone and call that person and explain what happened. Listen first, then investigate, then own what you need to own in the situation. And then step four, respond. Match the response to the problem. Not every complaint deserves the same level of response. If a donor doesn't like a particular font on your website, That doesn't equal an organizational emergency, which spoiler alert, this very issue is part of the reason for this podcast episode. I've walked with a nonprofit that significantly overreacted to this very challenge right here. The font was wrong on the website. A donor didn't like that for whatever reason. They thought it was hard to read. And so they made a complaint. And now all of a sudden there's a meeting, and we might have to redesign the whole site and everything like that. You just need to stop and let something like that go. Now, if there's an issue with the donor that believes that you've not honored a restricted gift request or another bigger financial issue, or they're accusing you of breaking a promise of some sort, that should get more immediate attention. Here's the principle to remember: the seriousness of your response should match the seriousness of the issue, not the size of the donor. Again, the seriousness of your response. Should match the seriousness of the issue, not the size of the donor. So for significant complaints, I want you to get off email, pick up the phone. Tone and nuance are so much easier in a conversation. And even better if you can meet that person in person, do it. All right. So that's step four. Step five, then, is learn. Is this revealing a larger problem? Ask yourself, is this situation, this complaint, is it isolated or could other donors be experiencing the same thing? One complaint doesn't necessarily indicate a problem, and one complaint shouldn't cause you to make organizational changes, but it is worth looking at whether or not this could be the first person who's willing to tell you something. You want to look for things like confusing receipts. poor communication in general from either an individual or from your whole team. Donation form friction, like there's parts during the giving process that just don't make sense. The weak thank you process, if that's not really firm and solid and recognizing of the donor's gift, that might be an issue. Unclear use of funds messaging could be an indication of something more serious or more significant that actually needs to be addressed. Communication frequency issues. The principle here is don't overreact to one complaint, but don't underlearn from it either. Finding the balance of when to consider changes or corrections because of complaints versus not changing is a bit tricky and can take some finesse. and like I mentioned before the fear of losing donors can make you overly reactive when you shouldn't be One complaint should not automatically change your fundraising strategy or your communications calendar or anything about any of your programs Or your mission priorities or your leadership decisions. Before changing something, I want to ask: is the complaint factually legitimate? Are we hearing this elsewhere or seeing supportive evidence of the issue this individual is having? Would changing this make us better at accomplishing the mission? Sometimes the correct response is just simply, hey, thank you so much for sharing that with us. No apology, nothing more. Thanks for sharing that with us. And there is an opportunity hidden in all of this to actually turn the person making the complaint into an advocate for your organization. When you handle the addressing of a complaint well, it is entirely possible to convert that moment into one in which the person making the complaint feels more endeared to you and to your organization, occasionally resulting in more generosity, even. Your handling of a complaint with wisdom is a moment that you're building a deepening trust with that person. No one and no organization is perfect, not even yours. and how you handle those moments of imperfection says a lot. If you think about it, a complaining donor is still an engaged donor. The donor who quietly disappears, on the other hand, and just stops giving, they may actually be a bigger concern. So acknowledge that you've received their complaint, especially if the complaint comes to you by text or email, which it can be really easy to forget to respond in a moment of busyness to something like that. Then thank them for raising the concern. Notice what I didn't say. Don't apologize yet and don't offend anything either. You're simply acknowledging that you've received their message and saying thank you for taking the time to reach out. Explain what you're doing when it's appropriate. And then follow up afterward. Hey, I wanted to let you know we took care of the issue that we discussed. Closing the loop demonstrates that your listening wasn't just performative. Okay, let's wrap up with a few high points and some takeaways. Complaints are inevitable, at least every once in a while. And just keeping it real, when people give money, they can occasionally get a slightly warped sense of entitlement to tell you how to do your job or how they think the organization should be run. So the more donors that you secure for your nonprofit and the more higher dollar givers that you have. The more likely you're going to need a plan in place in your mind so that when a complaint comes, you're able to keep your wits about you and respond appropriately. So don't fear donor complaints, don't automatically obey them either. Listen carefully, investigate to determine what's actually happening and what kind of complaint it is. Own legitimate mistakes that you have made. Respond appropriately. And then learn what you can. And of course, continue leading. Good donor stewardship isn't keeping every donor happy, but it is treating every donor with respect while still having the courage to lead your organization well. and I hope these five steps will help with that. Hey, thanks for listening to the Nonprofit Launch Plan podcast for startups, small and growing nonprofits. If you like what you're learning in the podcast, you can get more of it in your inbox each week. sign up for my free weekly email, the nonprofit launch briefing. Every week I send you one meaningful email with something you need to be considering or thinking about or working on as a nonprofit leader. And it's something different than the podcast. It's never the same thing that you hear each week on the podcast. It's designed to help you lead your nonprofit better, grow stronger, raise more money, avoid some of the common mistakes that I've made. So if you're serious about building a healthy nonprofit, That makes a real impact. I'd love to have you on the list. Just shoot me a quick email with a simple sign me up in the subject line. My email is matt at nonprofitlaunchplan.com. Again, sign me up in the subject line, matt at nonprofit launchplan.com. That's it for this episode of the Nonprofit Launch Plan Podcast for Startup Small and Growing Nonprofits. If this podcast has been helpful, please consider sharing it with another nonprofit leader. Who you think might benefit from it. And until next time, thanks so much for watching and listening. Keep building wisely and keep making a difference.