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The Top 4 Motivations for Giving and the Peril of Ignoring, Misinterpreting or Underestimating Them
Survey after survey we see the same things, and have for years. When we ask donors why they give to various organizations and they say,
- I have a personal connection
- It speaks to what is important to me
- There is a clear need
- I can see the impact
Yet how many organizations attempt to fundraise without attempting to explore if a personal connection exists, based on good deeds done previously, or attempt to build a personal connection before soliciting?
How many organizations take the time to listen to current and potential donors to discover who or what about their organization or their communication speaks most compellingly to them without realizing there are significant variations in each donor and prospect community?
How many organizations, when they hear donors talk about a “clear need” or “the greatest need,” interpret it as a donor’s willingness to respond to the organization’s greatest need, not that of those they serve? There is no doubt that donors are looking for the clear need in society, not that of the organization. They assume, as well they should, that if the societal need is served so will be the organization’s budgetary need.
How many organizations fail to address the current impact in their appeals for additional support? How many just claim to have an impact but provide little or no compelling evidence of it? How many organizations miss the operative word “see” in that statement and default to telling, not showing, thereby failing to provide the means, real or virtual, for donors to see for themselves?
The less energy an organization devotes to creating the conditions that will motivate donors, the more it wastes on fundraising, predisposing itself to high rates of donor attrition and handcuffing its advancement team.
Donor motivations are the philanthropic horse that all too often get put behind the fundraising cart.
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.
Related Resources:
- Webinar: 4-Step Process for “Reimagining Fundraising Operations”
- The Power of Building Relationships: Why Donors Need Good Fundraisers
- The Way You Fundraise Matters
- Fundraising’s Worst Oversimplification
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Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
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Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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