It's not about your Organization, it's about your Donors

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Yesterday I received an email from a nonprofit I support.  The entire email was about the great things the organization was doing.  Then they asked me for a gift so that they could do more great things.

Think with me for just a moment.  Imagine how much more powerful the email would have been if it told me about all the great things I was doing with my gifts, and then asked for another gift so that I could do more great things?

There is no way we can say it enough times; you should spend less time talking about your organization and what it’s doing, and spend more time talking about what your donors can do (and have done) with their gifts.

Donors want to accomplish something with each and every gift they give.  When you’re asking for money, if you tell donors what their gift will accomplish they are more likely to make a gift.  When you’re reporting back on what their previous gifts did (you do report back, don’t you?), if you tell them what they accomplished they will be happier about their gift — and therefore more likely to give another gift.

Next time you ask your donors to make a gift, don’t ask them to give a gift to your organization.  Ask them to give a gift to do something specific.  You’ll raise more money.

Steven

Steven Screen is Co-Founder of The Better Fundraising Company and lead author of its blog. With over 25 years' fundraising experience, he gets energized by helping organizations understand how they can raise more money. He’s a second-generation fundraiser, a past winner of the Direct Mail Package of the Year, and data-driven.


One comment on “It's not about your Organization, it's about your Donors


  1. Judith. I’d recommend watching the 5 Minutes to Raising More Money video on the front page of the blog. It summarizes how we recommend you connecting your donors directly with your beneficiary. Watch the video and then post additional questions you have them.

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