Several weeks ago, my wife and I went to a play in the city we were visiting. It was the standard Broadway play: fun, engaging, and entertaining. It was money and time well-spent.
In the program for the play where the acts are outlined, the cast is showcased, and the advertisers are displayed, there was a section for donors. In that section, they were displaying a list of the five giving levels and the benefits the donor receives in each of them, in hopes that people like us would decide to give as well. Here is a partial list of the benefits:

• Company/family name acknowledgment in recordings before the play.
• Company/family name in programs.
• Complementary tickets.
• Special recognition at annual gala.
• Recognition on lobby projection screen during every play.
• Open invitation to rehearsals.
• Name and recognition on website.

Except for one item on this list, what do you see as a common theme running through all of them?
The common theme is that each of them, except for the invitation to rehearsals, is solely about the donor. They are all about recognition or getting free tickets. The rest of the list is similar – each item basically frames each benefit with “here is what we can do for YOU as a donor in return for your money.”
Hmmmm. Seems backwards to me. I thought the donor was supposed to be invited to do something for the cause?
I understand the psychology of this approach. Appeal to the donor’s need for attention and recognition, and then you will get a gift. It may work with most donors, but it really does nothing to bond the donor to the cause.
And bonding your caseload donor to the cause is the objective of your efforts as a MGO. If you just give them recognition, they will not bond with your cause. And if they do not bond with your cause, they will eventually go away.
That is why, when Jeff and I are helping construct donor offers, we’re always asking the following questions: “What societal problem is your cause addressing? What is the benefit to society that your cause promotes?”
Take theatre, for instance. I really like what Dr. Kevin Brown (Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater at the University of Missouri) said are the ten top reasons theatre is still important today:

1. It helps us understand what it means to be human.
2. It teaches us how to express ourselves more effectively.
3. It teaches us about ourselves and how our minds and the minds of others work.
4. It helps us learn about history.
5. It reminds us, even in this ever-changing digital age, that there is a human body at the center of every digital transaction.
6. It helps us understand people from cultures other than our own.
7. It helps us understand how performances unfold around us and helps us recognize and take control of the power dynamics that affect us.
8. It’s a cultural space where society examines itself in a mirror.
9. It’s a great way to learn – it teaches us about people, places and ideas.
10. It develops our creativity.

Wow! What a list! Now compare this list of ten societal benefits to the one from the program of the play we saw. It makes the first list seem pretty shallow and insignificant, doesn’t it? Yes, it does – because that is exactly what that first list is: shallow, self-oriented and insignificant. And that is the problem with most donor offers.
Now, when I compare my experience of that play against this list of ten, I can easily see how that play affected me on so many levels. And I can actually feel it. If the theatre fundraisers would have framed their ask in these terms, they would easily have persuaded us to give.
Do you see the difference in approaches? It is huge.
So I recommend taking several steps to review your donor offers:

• Ask “what societal problem is your cause addressing”?
• Ask “what benefit to society is your cause providing”?
• Frame your offer with those answers.
• Keep the recognition offers going if you must – but wrap them in these clothes.

Then notice how your donors bond with you, stay with you and give more.
Richard