You’re Not as Unique as You Think You Are

If I had a dime for everyone that has said to me how their donors are different than other non-profit’s donors, I would be extremely wealthy.

Let me begin by saying that I’ve pretty much seen it all in the non-profit space.  I’ve been a Development Director for two non-profits for 8 years, I’ve worked as an account director and senior strategist for a large direct-response agency for 12 years and I’ve been working specifically with mid and major donors with Veritus for 16 years. So, that’s 36 years of fundraising from a multitude of perspectives.

And, over those 36 years I’ve worked with over a hundred different organizations spanning every sector of the non-profit world and analyzed over a thousand different organizations data.

Here is what I can tell you without a doubt.  Your donors are not unique to you. You cannot use that argument to justify your current strategy, the reason you don’t invest in your program or the type of people you hire to help you with fundraising. I don’t care if your organization is in California or New York or Alabama.  I don’t care if they are U.S. donors, U.K. donors, German donors or Spanish donors.  I don’t care if you are in higher ed, healthcare, domestic relief, international relief and development, or whatever…donors all want the same thing. 

1. If you want gifts from donors you have to ask.  And ask pretty often.
2. All donors want to be thanked…promptly.
3. All donors want to know that their gifts are making a difference.
4. All donors want to give. It’s in everyone’s DNA.
5. All donors want to be respected
6. All donors will give more, if you treat them well, if you make the effort to know them and you provide compelling offers that match what you know about the donor.
7. All donors find joy in their giving and if they don’t, they will find organizations to support that gives them joy.
8. All donors will continue give to you, if they resonate with your mission, if you serve them well and you treat them as part of your mission.

Please get this in your head and heart. Your donors are not different.  They all want these 8 universal things from you and your organization. The question is: Are you willing to put in the time, effort and resources to make that happen. I guarantee you, if you do, you will have more engaged donors, less value attrition, and an abundance of revenue. Focus on these eight desires that all donors have, and you will be incredibly successful and your donors will have an abundance of joy in their giving.

Jeff