What is Donor Fatigue?
Donor fatigue is a phenomenon in which people no longer give to charities, although they have donated in the past. There are a number of causes for donor fatigue, including pressure to donate, overstretched budgets, and frustration with mis-managed charities and donation campaigns. Many charities work hard to avoid donor fatigue, since it negatively impacts their collected funds for the year. There are an assortment of ways in which donor fatigue can be avoided by both donors and charities. The most benign cause of donor fatigue is simply budget exhaustion. Many people who engage in charitable giving set aside a specific budget every year for this purpose. When the budget runs out, they are no longer able to donate. Events like natural disasters can wipe out the donation budget of a charitable household, as was the case in 2005 when people donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Rita followed hard on Katrina’s heels. Donors wanted to help, but they did not have the finan
