A Parent’s Guide to Motivating Fundraisers

By Otis Fulton, Ph.D. and Katrina VanHuss

I am lucky to work with smart people. Recently I overheard an employee talking about how she is helping her grandchild achieve diaper freedom. I was struck by the conversation and asked her to draw a comparison between potty training and motivating volunteer fundraising. She did not blink, “Yep, got it.” I give you Vickie LoBello, formerly of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life and St. Baldrick’s Foundation:

I know that a lot of millennials have become moms and dads over the past few years—16 million moms to be specific.

Image via Pew Research Center

My daughter’s 3-year-old is going through this process. My daughter did her research and mapped out her plan and then we began together. Her plan was a combination of rewards and recognition. The rewards were food and toys. The recognition were things that the potty trainee identified would be important to him like calling family, so we could tell him we were proud and getting to "big boy" milestones that would ultimately lead to attendance at preschool.

In the end, the recognition piece was more desirable than the rewards. I began getting two to five FaceTime calls a day, wherein he would tell me his latest accomplishments. He would then wait patiently for what he wanted to hear: "I am so proud of you! You are getting to be such a big boy.

This may all sound familiar to you if you have read this blog or have met practically anyone from Turnkey for even the briefest period of time. (We tend to talk about recognition a lot!)

I know that recognition is the most impactful approach for motivating fundraisers, as I have worked in peer-to-peer fundraising for over 25 years. I should have known that this would be the key area of impact for my grandson. I just didn’t make the connection until recently.

Humans are hard wired to respond to recognition. To put it simply, our ancestors who were most sensitive to the feedback of their group were the ones who survived (try making it out on the African Savanna without a little help from your friends). The recognition my grandson received in praise is really the same thing as being recognized as part of a group.

In his recent book, "Social, Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect" psychologist Matthew Lieberman writes, "Our brains crave the positive evaluation of others almost to an embarrassing degree. It is easy to imagine [feeling rewarded by] positive feedback from the people who matter most to us, but would social feedback from complete strangers have the same effect? Surprisingly, yes."

We are all born with antennae finely tuned to how others are responding to us: They recognize us. And it turns out we don’t even have to know the person for their recognition to be rewarding.

Some parents induce cooperation by offering rewards for using the toilet. While this method does work on occasion, it can be rather risky as it reinforces the child’s idea that success is related to getting a treat, rather than becoming a "big boy." I don’t say this condescendingly—we are all children at heart. Your fundraisers will respond to becoming big boys and girls without needing valuable treats.

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Otis Fulton, Ph.D. Author's page

Otis Fulton, Ph.D., spent most of his career in the education industry, working at the psychometric research and development firm MetaMetrics Inc., Pearson Education and others. Since 2013, he has focused on the nonprofit sector, applying psychology to fundraising and donor behavior at Turnkey. He is the co-author of the 2017 book, ”Dollar Dash: The Behavioral Economics of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising,” and the 2023 book, "Social Fundraising: Mining the New Peer-to-Peer Landscape,"  and is a frequent speaker at national nonprofit conferences. With Katrina VanHuss, he co-authors a blog at NonProfit PRO, “Peeling the Onion,” on the intersection of psychology and philanthropy.

Otis is a much sought-after copywriter for nonprofit fundraising messages. He has written campaigns for UNICEF, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, March of Dimes, Susan G. Komen, the USO and dozens of other organizations. He has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, where he also played on UVA’s first ACC champion basketball team.

Katrina VanHuss Author's page

Katrina VanHuss has helped national nonprofits raise funds and friends since 1989 when she founded Turnkey. Her client’s successes and her dedication to research have made her a sought-after speaker, presenting at national conferences for Blackbaud, Peer to Peer Professional Forum, Nonprofit PRO, The Need Help Foundation and her clients’ national meetings. The firm’s work is underpinned by the study and application of behavioral economics and social psychology. Turnkey provides project engagements, coaching, counsel and staffing to nonprofits seeking to improve revenue or create new revenue. Her work extends into organizational alignment efforts and executive coaching.

Katrina regularly shares her wit and business experiences on her and Otis Fulton's NonProfit PRO blog “Peeling the Onion.” She and Otis are also co-authors of the books, "Dollar Dash: The Behavioral Economics of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising" and "Social Fundraising: Mining the New Peer-to-Peer Landscape." When not writing or researching, Katrina likes to make things — furniture from reclaimed wood, new gardens, food with no recipe. Katrina’s favorite Saturday is spent cleaning out the garage, mowing the grass, making something new, all while listening to loud music by now-deceased black women, throwing in a few sets on the weight bench off and on, then collapsing on the couch with her husband Otis to gang-watch new Netflix series whilst drinking sauvignon blanc.

Katrina grew up on a Virginia beef cattle and tobacco farm with her three brothers. She is accordingly skilled in hand to hand combat and witty repartee — skills gained at the expense of her brothers. Katrina’s claim to fame is having made it to the “American Gladiator” Richmond competition as a finalist in her late 20s, progressing in the competition until a strangely large blonde woman knocked her off a pedestal with an oversized pain-inducing Q-tip. Katrina’s mantra for life is “Be nice. Do good. Embrace embarrassment.” Clearly she’s got No. 3 down.