Your organization is a gift to your donors.
You help each donor to do good that they could not do by themselves.
Because your donor doesn’t have programs. She doesn’t have program staff. She can’t do all the things that you do.
Your donor has not organized her life – as your organization has – to help people as powerfully as you do. What a gift that you’ve created this organization for your donor to tap into!
You help each donor experience the joy of giving.
Remember, your donors LOVES giving. Gets a real joy from it. So when she makes a donation to your organization, she benefits, too!
Off the top of my head, remembered from peer-reviewed research I’ve read:
- Donors are physically healthier than non-donors.
- Donors feel more connected than non-donors.
- People who donate are more likely to earn more the following year than non-donors.
(I wish that more Fundraisers – and their bosses – remembered this more often. When you own the idea that donors love giving, it makes you approach fundraising differently, and causes you to raise more money.)
You are her partner.
As much as I rant against using the word “partner” … I think that most donors, if they really sat down and thought about it, would think of the charities they give to as their “partners.”
(But always remember, from her perspective, who is partnering with whom.)
And you know what? You are her partner. She’s able to do far more to make the world a better place with your organization in her life.
She’s on a quest to make the world a little better, and you are her needed partner on her quest.
So in the craziness of year-end fundraising, remember that your organization is a gift to each of your donors.
You’re helping each donor make the world a better place – and helping each donor be happier and healthier – one gift at a time.
