A while ago I asked business owners what makes them donate and what doesn’t. So let me share with you the key things why donors say yes to your organisation.
Personal connection
People need to feel a connection to the cause. If they don’t have that, they’ll not want to donate. Unless the request is done by someone they know, trust and love. Like a birthday fundraiser on Facebook.
Clear impact
People need to see what their gift makes possible. They want to know how their donation will benefit the people or cause you serve.
Stories!
Stories help people see what their contribution will help you do. An example someone mentioned is of a video where an abandoned dog gets medical care. The nonprofit then supports it in building its social skills and then in the end it finds a new home. Another person said: Good stories open my wallet.
Choices and small amounts
People love it if there is a choice. That they can decide what to give money for. So they can also visualise very clearly what will happen with their contribution.
People also like it if they can decide how much and how often. Many people prefer small monthly amounts. So small that they hardly notice it, but still can feel good they’re helping.
Emotions
People donate when it’s something that triggers a positive emotion. When it makes them happy to donate. Everyone said that they don’t like to be guilt-tripped. One person also mentioned that nonprofits don’t often talk about why it’s good for the donor, too. Some people donate a lot, in time as volunteers or as money. But it seems like other nonprofits don’t really appreciate it if it isn’t for themselves.
Thank yous
People appreciate thank yous. They like to feel special, whether they give $5 or $5000. One person said, thank donors ten times over – it is that important!
Clarity
People want to know how you plan to use the money – but also how you have actually in reality used their money. They want accountability and transparency. That includes transparency about how much money or what percentage is used for general costs, management costs, admin costs or any other name you may use for costs that are not incurred directly for the activities.
Proportionality
People do understand that nonprofits need to pay a director. And that they need to have a website and pay for other things that are just helping them exist and be operational. They just don’t want these costs to be too high compared to what is spent for the community or cause.
They also expect nonprofits to be careful about such costs. To think about whether they need an office or not. Or whether they could do things differently and have lower general costs.
In short
Summing all this up, many people are happy to contribute to nonprofit work. You just need to invest time in finding the people that are aligned with your vision and mission and values. And you need to pay attention to how you communicate with them. Everyone said they hate it when a nonprofit is putting pressure on them and tries to make them feel guilty. Or when a nonprofit doesn’t accept no as a valid answer. All of them had such negative experiences, and yet, for the right organisation, they opened their wallet.
How I can help
Grab this free resource Ten Esssential Strategic Documents Your Nonprofit Needs to Have: https://www.changingtides.eu/essentialdocuments
If you’re looking for ways to generate money that’s not from donors, check out my workshop 7 ways to generate unearmarked income for your nonprofit. It’s available on demand – so you can jump right in and get going! You can find it here: https://www.changingtides.eu/unearmarkedincome
Click here to learn why donors say yes to your organisation.
Want to know more and ask questions?
If you want to discuss this more and maybe share your donor outreach plans – jump into my nonprofit support community and get input from a wide range of peers and from myself!
Here is how you can join my free nonprofit support community
You can join my free nonprofit support community on the Heartbeat platform here. This group is a safe space for open exchange and discussion on potentially sensitive topics like boards, nonprofit management, fundraising, etc.
You can visit the community via a browser or via an app. Here is the link to download the Heartbeat chat app in the Google Play store.
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