Independent philanthropy advisor and author Theresa Lloyd says charities are still not treating philanthropists with respect, failing to keep them informed or to thank them properly.

Lloyd, who celebrated 25 years in the non-profit sector this week, was responding to comments made by fundraising consultant Ken Burnett at the Institute of Fundraising Scotland’s Scottish Conference last month. He said that fundraisers were not making enough effort to engage with donors and retain them. Burnett argued that charities should offer a “world-class donor service routinely”.

He also told Philanthropy UK: “Customer service in the voluntary sector is still chronically bad. We undervalue and under-invest in it.  As a result we routinely disappoint and upset people who we so easily could encourage to support us more.

“For genuine philanthropists anything less than brilliant service is utter folly. I find it hard to imagine how anyone could conceive of anything other than looking after major donors brilliantly. Yet, we hear many horror stories from donors. We should see philanthropy as worth encouraging for its own sake, and treat philanthropists with the respect they deserve.”

Lloyd says: “Ken Burnett is quite right, particularly with regards to ‘major donors’ who offer the biggest potential to increase private sector income for charities.”

To illustrate her point, Lloyd gives an example of one of the philanthropists she interviewed for her book, Why Rich People Give, who said: “I would give 10/10 to an organisation which came back after a year and asked for 30 minutes of my time to explain what had happened to the money and project and what was achieved. I have very little experience of this happening.”

However, Lloyd laments that eight years after publishing her book, the message has still not got through to fundraisers. “Donor relationship management is often left to relatively junior staff who are not responsible for delivering the mission of the organisation and there is little or no involvement from organisation leaders, whether trustees, chief executive or senior management.”

She adds: “I still come across ‘major donor fundraisers’ who have no empathy with their core market. Indeed they appear to resent the wealthy and having to say ‘thank you’. They do not bother with the basic courtesies of checking the spelling of names, or including titles and honours. They cannot be bothered to top and tail letters by hand and use what is clearly a standard response to a very significant gift.”

Lloyd and Burnett are not the only experts raising concern. Former head of New Philanthropy Capital Martin Brookes told MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee earlier this year that charities had done a very poor job at marketing themselves to donors over recent decades.

Meanwhile, fundraising consultant Tony Elischer told delegates at the International Fundraising Congress, which took place last month in the Netherlands, that fundraisers were not asking donors for enough money or doing enough to retain them, stating that 62% of donors only gave once. He said: “I do believe the money is out there. Luxury is booming. We’re not asking for enough. We need to raise the request.”