The theory of reciprocity is powerful. And nowhere is it displayed more dramatically than in restaurants every day.
Think about it. Your waiter is basically working to inspire you to donate money after your meal to fund their livelihood. If they give you what you want, you’ll give them a tip (a donation), right?
And guess what? It’s no accident that waiters bring you fortune cookies, mints, or chocolates when they deliver the check to your table. In fact, a series of studies monitoring restaurant waiters once found that a waiter can increase the amount of their tips as follows:
Give 1 mint to the table = Increases tip by 3%
Give 2 mints to the table = Increases tip by 14% (So doubling the mints increased the tip by over 400%!)
Give 1 mint to the table, walk away… pause… turn around and say, “for you nice people, here are some extra mints” = Increases tip by 23% (That’s almost an 800% increase because it’s not about what was given but HOW it was given!)
So the lesson for fundraisers here is: Be the first to give and be sure to deliver your gift in a way that is personalized and unexpected.
Give and you’ll get. And, be sure to do it in a very personal and unexpected way. You can thank your waiter for that fundraising lesson.
What are you giving your donors? And how are you doing it?
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