Don’t Chase Prospects, Look for the Willing

When we think of people as prospects, we approach them, more often than not, with our lists of what we want them to do for us.

When we realize they are not prospective donors but people already willing to give, we realize the challenge is to create the circumstances that make them want to give.

We know they are willing to give because they have either given to us before or to some other organizations. If we can find no or very nominal evidence of their giving, they are truly prospective donors. Trying to convert a prospective donor with little or no philanthropic history into a giver or investor is a very tough and highly unsuccessful business.

But when we think of people already willing to give, it follows logically to ask ourselves:

• What have they been willing to give to?
• What made them willing to give to that organization, cause, or purpose?
• What do we have that is akin to what they have been giving to?
• How could we test the potential for alignment with them and distinguish ourselves from the crowd of organizations trying to get them to give ?

These kinds of questions create the orientation for philanthropic facilitation, the keys to which are:

• Listening, not lists
• What we could do together, not what I want from you
• Affording voice, choice, and place, not parking people into giving societies, which assign value according to how much people have given, not how generously they have given within their means or of themselves
• Sharing what worked, what didn’t, what we learned, and how we’re applying what we learned to improve service delivery

The fact of the matter is that there are a lot more people willing to give than do, and a lot of givers who are willing to give more than they presently do if we create the circumstances that make them want to do both – and stop treating them like prospects.

Jim Langley is the president of Langley Innovations. Langley Innovations provides a range of services to its clients to help them understand the cultural underpinnings of philanthropy and the psychology of donors, and with that knowledge, to develop the most effective strategies and tactics to build broader and more lasting communities of support. Jim has authored numerous books, including his most recent book, The Future of Fundraising: Adapting to New Philanthropic Realities, published by Academic Impressions in 2020. 

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