Grant These 6 Donor Wishes for More Loyalty

What are donors’ needs and wants?
Donors (and prospects) want at least six things from their interactions with you:

• Value: She must believe her gifts are making a difference — that you are a good steward of her money and that every dollar is spent wisely. Every time you say, “I need your help again,” you also have to say, “You have already helped so many people. Look at the difference you’ve made!”
• A sense of accomplishment: More important than telling her that her money is making a difference is telling her that she is making a difference. When you tell her how far her money has gone, you also need to tell her that she has done a heroic thing by helping.
• Recognition: The sense of accomplishment she feels will last a lot longer if she also feels she’s been noticed and personally recognized as an important part of your organization. Let her know that you know she is helping.
• Input: We all want to feel our voices are being heard and that our opinions matter. Make sure your donor knows her feelings, values and ideas matter to you as much as her money.
• Access: For many donors, it’s important to feel they are on the “inside” and that the people in charge are available to them in some way. This doesn’t mean your CEO needs to take phone calls from $25 donors all day. But as any successful politician can tell you, the ability to make everyone you meet feel special is an important leadership skill.
• Blessing: For religious donors, the idea of feeling blessed for their contributions is literal. But all donors need to feel they are doing God’s work in the world and will receive some kind of spiritual reward in addition to an emotional one. Even the most secular groups need to appeal to a donor’s higher sense of ethics and morality.