The Magic of ‘Specific and Low-Cost’

You might have noticed how lots of nonprofits ask donors to donate to provide low-cost, specific things. 

Here are a couple of examples:

• A gift of just $37 will fund our website for a day, making all the stories from our independent news site available to everyone.
• A complete Thanksgiving dinner and care costs just $5.15.
• The cost of an hour of equine therapy for a child with autism is only $53.

Have you ever thought about why nonprofits use this tactic?  Once you do, it’s obvious why so many nonprofits do this, and why it works to help organizations raise more money.

By focusing on something specific, with a specific price point, the nonprofit makes three things easier for individual donors:

1. By focusing on one action, it means the donor just needs to understand the value of that action.  In other words, the donor does not need to understand the entire organization, what it does, etc.  The donor just needs to understand one simple part. 
2. By providing a specific dollar amount, the donor now knows how much they need to give to make a meaningful difference.  Instead of donors asking questions like “Will my $50 do anything?” or “How much do I need to give to help somebody?” they know the answer.
3. By having the dollar amount be low (say, below $50), the organization communicates that almost anyone can make a meaningful difference.  This approach makes the organization more inclusive and accessible, which increases the number of donors who give gifts.

I hope you’ll marvel with me for a moment at how much this tactic accomplishes for nonprofits.  In just a couple of sentences, the nonprofit has reduced cognitive load for the donor, answered a question, and helped show than anyone can make a difference by giving to the organization.

No wonder this tactic works so well in individual donor fundraising.

If you feel like your organization doesn’t have something that’s low-cost and specific that your donors can fund, that’s just because no one has taught you how to find it.  My next post will feature several examples that will show you how to find one for your organization.

And if you or someone on your team are worried that this tactic will cause your larger donors to give smaller gifts, don’t worry.  I talk about this very thing on page 24 of this short, free eBook.

For right now, if this has sparked an idea for something specific that your donors would love to fund, start thinking about featuring it in your next piece of fundraising, or testing it in email sometime soon.  I’ve seen many organizations identify something specific their donors love to fund and have their fundraising immediately accelerate to new heights…