Where have all the donors gone?

I know it sounds like a pop song from the 60's. But seriously, how true is it that donor files are decreasing in size steadily, and what does it mean for our industry?

Studies have shown that, while overall donations to charity have increased slightly in each of the past few years, it has been the result of slightly fewer donors giving slightly higher average gifts. Until this year, in the economic meltdown, when those slightly fewer donors started giving slightly less.

We're looking for insightful comments on this, as well as profound thoughts on what we, as an industry, can do about it. Are traditional low-level direct mail donors just dying faster than their children are taking their places? Are they being turned off? Or are bigger nonprofits making the mistake of "mailing smarter" and cutting back on the kind of acquisition and reactivation that loses money in the short run but increases long-term donor files and revenue?

Please add your comments here, or see Rick Christ at next week's DMAW/AFP Bridge Conference in DC and give him a piece of your mind there.

Rick...