Putting Donors Center Stage

“What are donors interested in … ?” That was the question posed by Phil Cubeta in a post last week on his Gift Hub blog.

Whatever the answer — be it helping others, self-actualization, honor, giving back, setting a good example, carrying on a family tradition, memorializing a loved one or earning social status — Cubeta says it’s the role of the fundraiser to serve as a mirror to donors’ giving desires.

“The first service a fund-raiser or advisor performs for a donor is to listen to and half-validate the latest alibi, the latest version of “who I am.” The hesitation, the deeper question, get the story moving, and the ending has yet to be written.”

Cubeta says that for each potential donor, there is a story in which he or she is a key figure, whether it be protagonist, or sometimes victim.

“A major gift may be one of the top 3 or 4 life-actions a person takes, like marriage, or starting a business, or being elected to office. How can we provide the protagonist a stage on which to act out his or her character and calling or destiny?”

— June 20, “How the Rich Portray Their Lives — The Role of Fundraiser or Advisor as Mirror,” www.gifthub.org