How to Develop Offers Donors Actually Want

Donors today expect more from their favorite charities.

They want accountability, clarity, and a direct connection between their giving and the impact it makes. If you’re a frontline fundraiser, you know how frustrating it can be to have eager donors ready to give but nothing compelling to present to them.

This is where developing donor offers becomes absolutely critical. And yet, most non-profits still struggle to do it well.

Why Offers Matter

Your organization has programs, people to serve, and a budget to fund. But the way those numbers are presented internally—in categories of program and overhead—rarely matches how donors think. Donors don’t see “line items.” They see people, outcomes, communities, and transformation.

When you create offers that connect to your donors’ passions and interests, you’re making it easy for them to say “yes.” You’re asking for money, but most importantly, you’re inviting them to invest in real change.

The Donor Impact Portfolio (DIP)

We have created a process and protocol we call the Donor Impact Portfolio (DIP). We’ve chosen these words carefully because of the special meaning we’ve assigned to each one:

• Donor – This is about showing your donors what they get when they partner with you on a project. It’s not about your organization’s needs; it’s about the donor’s impact.

• Impact – This is strictly about what your organization currently does for people in an integrated way. And it goes all the way down to the smallest operating unit, so donors can clearly see and support real, tangible outcomes. The word currently is key: the DIP is about budgeted, existing programs—not new, speculative ones. By framing it this way, fundraising and communications teams can secure funds for programs that are already making an impact. (Yes, overhead is included proportionately to program costs — because that’s part of the real story.) 

• Portfolio – This highlights the range of opportunities available for donors to support. They can connect with people groups (children, youth, seniors), program types (housing, job training, food security, addiction recovery), or specific places where the work is happening. And because there are different “price points,” donors at any capacity — whether $1,000, $10,000, or even $3 million — can find a project that fits their passion and ability.

When you present your budget as a Donor Impact Portfolio, you’re shifting from abstract organizational needs to a donor-centered set of opportunities for real transformation.

The Four Elements of a Donor Offer

From our work with non-profits across the country, we’ve found that the most effective donor offers include four simple elements:

1. Program Category – What’s the specific program or service?
2. People Group Helped – Who benefits from this program?
3. Location – Where is the work happening?
4. Price Point – How much will it cost to make the impact?

When you can present your budget in these terms, you’re building a donor-driven portfolio of opportunities. Whether a donor wants to invest $1,000 or $1 million, they can find a project that matches both their passion and capacity.

Ready for the Unexpected

Here’s a quick story that illustrates the power of strong donor offers.

One fundraiser I know had a donor who typically gave $5,000 annually. This time, the fundraiser presented an offer perfectly aligned with the donor’s passions and boldly asked for $200,000. The donor responded, “If I gave you $450,000, how would you use it?”

Because the fundraiser was prepared — with a clear vision and specific opportunities — she had an answer. And the donor wrote a $450,000 check. 

Contrast that with another organization, where a donor offered to give more but the fundraiser couldn’t explain how additional funds would be used. That donor stuck with their usual, much smaller gift. The opportunity was lost.

The Bottom Line

When you know your donors’ passions and present offers that align with them, you create space for transformational giving. It’s not just about meeting your annual goals. It’s about being ready for when a donor wants to go above and beyond, and giving them the confidence to do it.

Don’t leave your donors guessing. Build offers they actually want, and you’ll see deeper relationships and greater impact.