There is a trend in giving that relates to the magnitude of the disaster that an organization is fundraising for. I tend to think that this holds true to some extent in the Jewish fundraising world as well.
I just read this article by MSNBC that draws the conclusion that as the level of a disaster heightens, the level of giving decreases. The full article is here: Americans give less after tragedies. The article even coins the term “Disaster Fatigue” in place of “Donor Fatigue”.
This thinking seems a little counter intuitive to me. If a real disaster occurs isn’t it our duty to give more to help those in need?!
Lesson learned: If you are a fundraiser, you should be looking ahead and see what sort of tragedies your organization will be called upon to out help with.
Disasters can’t be predicted, but by foreseeing events based on past experience and by having as many of the pieces as possible in place prior to a potential disaster, “Disaster Fatigue” can be at least partially circumvented.
With a little forward thinking and planning on the part of Jewish non-profits we can start to overcome “disaster fatigue”.
Yoav