Page History

A few years ago, my father-in-law passed away. In a conversation with my mother-in-law, she mentioned one of the hardest parts following his death was having to stop giving to the ministries they supported for years. She loved what those ministries did and got a lot of joy from being part of the team that empowered them to do their work. On top of the grief of losing her husband of almost 50 years, she had to make the very difficult choice to stop a large portion of difficult financial decisions, including reducing her giving. Being curious about how other ministries follow up with non-current donors, I asked how these ministries reached out after she had stopped giving. She paused and, with tears in her eyes, said none of them had contacted her. 

If you see an interruption in someone's normal giving pattern, reach out. Don't be that field worker that who causes a grieving widow more tears because you were "too busy" (or too scared) to call about a lapse in giving. You're not a "debt collector" (as the Enemy would like you to think); You're a person who notices others and checks up on them when something changes. People usually don't want to stop giving. So, when they they intentionally stop giving, usually something big has happened (death, loss, furloughed from work, hospitalization, etc). There are also times when people unintentionally stop giving (credit or debit cards expired, stolen or canceled card). They don't even know their giving has had an interruption. We show . Here's an example from a Reliant field worker: 

"I am feeling much more positive about support raising. So far, the conversations with suspended gift partners have been great. Three out of five have responded and are hopping back on! Two didn't know they were suspended and the other one was literally just waiting for me to call and verify that my new direction in ministry was genuinely from the Lord! It was sobering and encouraging, and he is back on."

Discover who is suspended /non-current

Reliant refers to these disruptions in giving as "suspended gifts" or "non-current donors" or "canceled gifts." It is valuable and encouraging to the supporter when you reach out promptly. 

Here's how:

...

• Toolbox: Go to your giving data page. Filter for "Gift Status: Suspended" and a list of suspended gift donors will appear.
   
  *Also check Cancelled giving.
• Partner Essentials (use MPDx tutorials): Sync your giving data. Check for changes in giving. TNTMPD: Sync your giving data. Check for changes in giving. 

...

Reach out

These conversations are encouraging because they’re a way to communicate care and concern to your supporter.

...