Easier Said Than Done: Three Laws of Fundraising Dynamics
That’s the way many nonprofits approach fundraising: Me, me, me and more me.
Here’s the deal: Your donors don’t support you because you’re the coolest organization on the block. They support you because they are cool. And you are just cool enough for them to consider inviting you into their circles. You are the trembling, grateful newcomer hoping to be allowed to hang out with the cool donor.
The self-focused organizations are so uncool, they think they’re cool. They press on with their look-at-me monologues, never noticing that nobody’s impressed and nobody’s listening.
If you want to motivate people to action, you have to spend at least some time listening.
Listening isn’t just a matter of shutting up so you can hear donors talk (though that’s part of it). After all, only a tiny fraction of donors take the trouble to spontaneously tell you what they think and feel. That means your listening has to be very active:
- Watch donor behavior, and act accordingly. What donors give to, how often they give, when they give, how much they give. All these things are important pieces of information that you should use.
- Solicit donor choices. Periodically let donors take control of the relationship. Let them pick the media you use to reach them, the types of messages they prefer, what you may do with their names. Very few donors (well less than 10 percent in most cases) exercise any choice at all. But you’ll see a lift in performance from all those you share power with. Listening works!
The third law
This final law helps us understand how to avoid running afoul of the other two: The more people involved in creating, revising and polishing a fundraising message, the more complex and self-focused it will be. Or as grandma might have said, too many cooks spoil the broth.
