Your major donor has just given in the last month or last several weeks and you are now turning your attention to the donors on your caseload who have not given so far this calendar year.
This is good.
But you may be missing an opportunity to bring additional joy into that recent giver’s life. You may be missing an opportunity to ask again.
“What?” you say.  “Ask again?  I can’t do that!  It wouldn’t be right.”
Well, let me present a different point of view.
While it may be true that the last gift your donor gave is the only one she either can give or wants to give, it may also be true that if the donor is able to give more and the last experience with you has been outstanding,  another gift is not out of the question.
Let’s examine those two points:

  1. The donor is able to give more. If you have followed the advice that Jeff and I put out there, you have done a great deal of research on your caseload donors.  And if you have done that research you know the giving patterns and capacity of your donor.  You know if they are able to give more.  While it is true you may not know how much they have given to others, you do know their general ability to give.  If you do not know this information, some good research right now is in order.
  2. The experience the donor just had with you was outstanding.  Have you ever had this experience:  you were asked to do something and were so sure you didn’t want to, but changed your mind and did?  The experience turned out to be so overwhelmingly satisfying that, when asked to do it again, you did.  Has that happened to you?  It has to me.  I have been in a situation where I was asked to give to something that matched my interests and passions.  Initially I stalled and wondered if I was able to give, or even wanted to, but when the situation was presented in such a compelling way, I just had to give. I had to.  And then all the information and input that was sent to me after I gave was, again, so compelling – so rewarding, that when I was asked to help again, I did.  Here’s my question:  are you giving your major donors that kind of experience after they give?  If you are, they could very well be ready to give again.

Remember, this giving thing is NOT about the money.
Jeff and I keep saying that, but I am not sure it is sinking in.  Think about it.  If it is not about the money then the transaction frequency is about the satisfaction that happened around the past and last transaction.  If something magical, rewarding and uplifting happened, then making that happen again could very well be a desired and attractive experience.
I remember a story of a wealthy donor who was just not giving.  He was on the caseload of an MGO and no matter what that MGO did it did not work.  Then the MGO discovered that he was presenting information and giving opportunities to the donor that did not match the donor’s passion and interests.  So he changed that.
Bingo!  Things started to change.  As the donor got closer and closer to all the things that were satisfying about giving to the areas that interested him, the more energy he got and the more he gave.
[Clue:  giving goes up because transaction satisfiers go up].
So, take notice here.  The giving did not go up because the MGO did a better job of asking.  Nor did the MGO do a better job of asking for more.  Nope.
The giving went up because the MGO did a better job of matching the donor’s interests and passions to the needs of the people/cause the organization was serving.  AND then, after doing that match right, the MGO made the giving experience rewarding and fulfilling by giving the donor a ton of “You made a difference” information – information that was so compelling and so satisfying that the donor wanted to give again.
See how this works?
Here’s how you need to put this dynamic to work for this year-end, which is just weeks away.
If you have a donor who has the ability and whose experience with you has been satisfying, ask her again for a year-end gift.  Do it boldly to meet the needs of the people or cause you are serving.  And promise the donor that the experience will be just as good if not better than the last time she gave.
Remember, this has nothing to do with money.  It has everything to do with helping the donor find a way to do even more good this year and feel good about doing it.
Richard

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