| I have on my desk a direct mail fundraising appeal | | | | Which is why the headline on their February appeal |
| from a hospital that I once supported with a | | | | startled me. |
| donation. I gave them a gift of $20 as an | | | | "Your 2007 Annual Renewal." |
| experiment, to see how, and how often, they would | | | | That headline tells me that the hospital thinks I should |
| write back. | | | | renew my support, automatically. Regardless of how |
| Across the front of this envelope are these words: | | | | they treat me. But that's where we disagree. This |
| "Your 2007 Annual Renewal." | | | | hospital needs to give me a reason to renew my |
| A phrase like that wouldn't normally surprise me, or | | | | support, and not just in their annual renewal letter. |
| disappoint me, but it did when this package dropped | | | | Like most donors, I won't support an organization for |
| through my mailbox back in February because that | | | | long that cares more about my money than it does |
| was the first time I'd heard from this hospital since I | | | | about me. I won't renew my support of a charity |
| made my donation. And I made my donation last | | | | that expects me to be uninformed and generous at |
| year. In 2006. June 12th, to be exact. | | | | the same time. I won't support what I don't believe |
| So do the math. I did. | | | | in. And I can't believe in something that I don't |
| I made my donation on June 12, 2006. I didn't hear | | | | understand. And I'm not likely to understand the |
| from the hospital again until February 20, 2007. Which | | | | needs of an organization that writes to me only once |
| means I was obviously off their radar screen for | | | | every seven months. |
| seven and a half months. Although they were not | | | | I pay my mortgage automatically. I renew my |
| off mine. I was watching for the mailman every day | | | | insurance automatically. I pay my taxes automatically. |
| to see how they would respond to my gift. | | | | I have many incentives for doing so. But I don't |
| I can't say I was disappointed with their response to | | | | renew my charitable support automatically. If you |
| my gift because they didn't respond to my gift. They | | | | want me to give again, give me a reason. A good |
| ignored me. For seven and a half months. No letters. | | | | one. And give me that reason long before you ask |
| No newsletters. No phone calls. No emails. | | | | me to renew my gift. |