Reasons to Give Today

Reasons to Give Today.

Hello from San Diego!

As I post this, I’m presenting at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference. The graphic above is part of my presentation, and I thought you’d find it helpful as you create your next piece of fundraising.

It attempts to illustrate a simple principle: when asking for support, the more reasons you can provide that your donor should give a gift right now, the more likely it is that the donor will make a gift.

If the only reasons your nonprofit provides are that the donor’s gift will support your organization and do good work, you’re less likely to receive a gift. Because every nonprofit can say that every day of their existence. That’s what it is to be a nonprofit.

But if you can give your donor more specific reasons that her gift is needed today, you’ll raise more. Reasons that are proven to work well are things like:

  • Matching funds will double the donor’s gift – this appeals to a donor’s sense of thriftiness
  • That there is some need today, some wrong that can be righted – this appeals to a donor’s moral sense of right and wrong, and her belief that she’s a person who responds when people or causes she cares about are in need
  • That something bad will happen if help is not received – this appeals to donors because humans are motivated to avoid negative things happening

Those aren’t the only reasons; there are lots of others.

But for today’s purposes, think about this the next time you create a piece of fundraising. Don’t just tell your donor that her gift will support your organization and do more good. Any organization can say that. Instead, provide your donor with more specific reasons she should give a gift today. If you do, you’ll receive more gifts.

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 “Reasons to Give Today


  1. Sitting here in the South of the African continent, I yearn for a chance to attend one of your conferences, but the timing is off.
    I’m coming to the end of my formal working years and I’ve learned more from the Better Fundraising company in the last three years than I did in the 22 years that went before.
    Thank you to all on that team for teaching this old cook new tricks.

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