Beyond Year-End Fundraising: Keep Asking

You asked. They responded. When donors make a year-end philanthropic gift, they feel joyful. I cannot tell you how many times donors have told me they received more than they gave. It’s your job to keep them feeling this way.

As counterintuitive as this may seem at first blush, ongoing asks could sustain joyful feelings.

MRI-based research has found when people give — or even contemplate giving — their brains light up in a super good way. They receive a feel-good shot of dopamine that goes straight to the brain’s pleasure center — the very same thing that happens when people eat chocolate. It’s called the "warm glow" effect, and it’s powerful. 

You see, dopamine is what’s known as a neurotransmitter. When someone eats chocolate or takes an addictive drug, their nerve cells release dopamine, which transmits a feeling of joy rewarding them for their act. It feels so good, they’ll do it again and again.

It turns out the human brain is wired for generosity. The joy of giving is so strong we prefer to give money away than to receive it

Be Proactive to Give Donors Generosity-Triggered Joy

If you want donors to continue feeling joyful about their affiliation with your organization, you must do something proactive to continue to engage them — immediately after the gift and then multiple times throughout the year.

Sadly, the glow doesn’t last long. We talk a lot about the importance of prompt, personal and powerful thank yous — and ongoing re-enforcement through grateful emails, texts, phone calls, impact reports, events and all that good stuff. By all means, do this! But, gratitude and cultivation are but one way to give joy. The other, most under-appreciated, way to give donors joy is to ask them to give. Because it starts up the feel-good-shot-of-dopamine process.

Once you’ve got donors on board, it’s your job to keep them on the love train. Definitely thank and cultivate, but don’t forget asking — offering an opportunity for purposeful engagement — is also a gift.

Don’t listen to whoever tells you “it’s too soon to ask again.” As long as you’ve said “thank you,” and reported on impact, you’re good to go. Those most likely to give are those still feeling some “glow,” who’ve given within the past three months. Some call this the “honeymoon phase.”

If you ask in a way that puts your donor front and center, you never need to worry. As long as you’re presenting donors with opportunities to add meaning and purpose to their lives, you’re golden. The “ask” triggers contemplation, which brings joy. Donors can always say ‘no’ to more active engagement or investment. I think of it like receiving an invitation to an event you don’t really want to attend. You still feel good to have been invited. And maybe you’ll attend the next time.

Invite Donors to Experience the Joy of Giving Year-Round

Most nonprofits simply don’t ask enough. Data backs up the fact fewer donors today are giving solely in December. Since 2012, the percentage of giving that happens in December has decreased. And since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, fewer Americans itemize their deductions, so the rationale for giving before the end of the tax year is not as true as it once was.

Don’t shy away from continuing to fundraise throughout the year. And if someone gives in January or February, don’t wait until next November or December to ask again! Remember, recency is a prime indicator of likelihood to give again. 

Now is the time to develop your integrated cultivation and solicitation strategy for the rest of the year. Think about what will make it emotionally fulfilling for donors to engage and invest with you all year long. Review your donors — segment by segment — and consider how they may be moved to give again. Or persuaded to give even more.

1. Consider How Many Donors May Be Giving Habitual Gifts

Spontaneous or habitual gifts are typically gifts from donors’ heads. Not a lot of emotion or thought goes into them. Consequently, they tend not to be the most passionate gifts these donors can make. They’re more transactional. Folks who make these tend to manifest as:

• first-time donors
• renewing donors who downgrade
• renewing donors who stay at same level
• occasional donors
• donors who made a token gift in honor of a friend
• donors who attended an event (on someone else’s dime)

Might there be some solicitation strategies you could cook up to inspire these donors to give more from the heart?

Consider inviting one-time, smaller donors to enroll in a monthly giving club. Tie what they’ll accomplish each month to the request for more frequent, consistent, reliable giving. For example, when I worked at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank we had a “Meal a Month Club.” Donors responded emotionally to the idea they’d be providing someone with a meal every month throughout the year. As a result, many donors ended up increasing their total annual giving. And they felt greater joy as well.

2. Consider How to Move ‘Head’ Donors To ‘Heart’ Donors

Heart gifts are passionate, demonstrating the donor is committed, loyal and self-identified as a member of your community. Rather than being simply transactional (like a one-time, year-end gift), these donations are transformational. They help donors like themselves when they look in the mirror. 

One way to help donors like themselves more — and simultaneously tie this new-found love to your organization’s good work — is to get folks to incorporate being a supporter on behalf of your cause as part of their personal identity. When asked what they do when they’re not working, you want donors to tell their family, friends and colleagues:

• “I am a Greenpeace supporter.”
• “I am invested with [your name] in the fight against cancer.”
• “I am an ACLU donor.”
• “I rescue dogs with [your name].”
• “I work with [your name] to save the environment.”
• “I work with [your name] to help the homeless.”
• “I stand up with [your name] for equal pay.”

Might there be some strategies you can incorporate into your fundraising to inspire donors to identify with your cause and like themselves a bit more? 

One of the best ways to get folks to self-identify is to incorporate feedback strategies in your communications. One easy technique is simply to include a box on the remit device where donors can add one word that comes to mind when they think of the organization. Typically, they’ll write words with which they identify, like “caring,” “helping,” “compassionate,” “necessary,” “cutting edge,” and “vital.” These words are important, and help the donor to feel important as well.

As you build your year-end appeal strategy, simultaneously build your supportive year-round stewardship, cultivation and integrated appeal strategy.

Don’t hold out on your constituents who need your help and attention all year round. If you want loyal supporters, be a loyal communicator. Don’t ever forget that when donors even contemplate making a charitable gift they get a ‘warm glow.’ The value of giving for donors is not simply what you do, or the values your organization enacts. Rather, it’s the value of identifying themselves as worthwhile, ‘good people.’

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.