It is impossible to develop a single formula for guiding the fundraising process. We humans are too varied in the way we go about determining which organizations we give to and how we make decisions to give specific amounts for specific purposes. But this we can say: When we make big decisions, we rarely act impulsively. The bigger the decision, the more likely it will be made in phases, and the longer the process will take.
Philanthropic decisions begin when a particular purpose resonates with our values or convictions, causing us to want to learn more. We tend to satisfy the desire to learn more through a series of small meals, not feasts. We ingest, digest, and seek more, particularly if resonance deepens and enthusiasm grows. As with grocery shopping, we tend to prefer gathering information ourselves rather than having it delivered to us (unless we have no choice). We like to see, feel, touch, and then pick out what most appeals to us.
This awareness should inform our fundraising practices. In particular, we should:
- Provide information in inviting, digestible increments
- Watch for and respond to philanthropic resonance
- Feed curiosity patiently and in customized ways
- Show, don’t tell
- Let prospective donors see, feel, and touch for themselves, satisfying as many senses as possible
- Give them what they most want, when they want it, until they have satisfied themselves
With this perspective, we can better see why so much of fundraising comes across as TMI – both Too Much Information (more than they can ingest and digest at various stages) and Too Much Institution (what we want them to know about us, not what they want to know about us). The more we try to tell them about us, the more it feels like delivering what we think they should eat and in what amounts, rather than what they would like to pick out for themselves.
We need to make our stores more inviting to enter, make it easier for prospective donors to shop for themselves without greeting them at the door and following them around with suggestions of what they should do, while also stopping by occasionally to see if they need help finding what they want.
BTW, I think it’s why fundraising may be better taught in a series of blog posts rather than in books, or why fundraising books are best consumed slowly and in chapters with lots of experience in between.
Below are some suggestions for avoiding TMI in fundraising. As always, I welcome yours.
Ways to Avoid TMI in Fundraising
- Provide easily digestible vignettes of human impact on your website or in your social media posts
- Have CEOs keep their presentation to 10 minutes or less, offering compelling, compacted accounts of where-we-are and where-we-could-be before inviting questions
- Introduce major initiatives in concept papers marked “draft” and invite donors to respond in the margins
- Watch how donors react to those concepts and develop FAQ documents according to what you learn from them
- Think of early-stage engagement as a lively conversation, starting not as converting lost souls to your cause
- Remember that it is better to leave donors a little hungry for good information than stuffed yet still unsatisfied with a lot of promotional puff
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.
