Are you a technician or a facilitator?

The flow chart below makes me very uncomfortable. Here’s why:
Science and experience have led me to realize that a donor’s objective is usually, first and foremost, to find meaning in their life through giving and to feel good knowing their legacy gift will make an impact.
With that obvious truth in mind, the top row of yellow questions should be about first determining:

• Why they care;
• Who influenced their interest in the cause;
• Whether or not they want to honor or commemorate that person;
• Whether or not they have a specific program they want to fund so they can make impact;
• And so on.

I don’t think questions like those should ever be absent from any fundraising action plan or flowchart.
It concerns greatly me that they are absent from this sheet.
Removing the humanity from the gift facilitation process reduces it to a cold, mechanical, transaction. Yet, all giving is based on emotion. I sincerely hope all gift planners recognize that and operate as facilitators of giving to help donors find meaning in their lives, not fundraisers operating to close gifts.
What do you think?

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