Donor Giving Increases Dramatically With the Right Donor Offer

That $5,000 a year donor on your file could give you $400,000 a year. Or, that $1,000 donor could give you $100,000. But the reason they aren’t giving what they could is because you are not presenting them with a donor offer that motivates them to give more. And here’s the reason why.

Most donor offers are created either in-house or by a consultant or agency in cooperation with the in-house team. And the creation process usually includes a meeting where those attending discuss what has worked in the past (good response equals good amounts per response). Having reviewed the past successes as well as what did not work, someone might pass out the organization’s current financial need. It’ll sound like this: “We are down X dollars from budget.” Or, like this: “We need to raise Y.”

Then what has worked is combined with what is needed to come up with a donor offer. That’s it — a donor offer is created.

Now, to be fair, there are more generous variations on this process that involve a discussion with program and finance on what programs are underfunded. But those meetings usually devolve into how to avoid being so specific that it causes restricted giving, a situation that most nonprofits are trying to avoid like the plague. Even with that, a higher quality donor offer usually results from this process.

The Problem With These Donor Offer Processes

But the problem with all of these processes I mentioned is that they do not result in an effective donor offer that motivates the mid-level, major or planned gift donor to give to their potential. Here are the two reasons for this.

1. The Offer Creation Did Not Start With the Donor

In mid-level, major and planned giving, the creation of a donor offer should never start with the nonprofit. It must start with the donor as well as their passions and interests. I know, you’ve heard this before, but not paying attention to this one very important point is why your $5,000 donor will continue to give you $5,000 when they could give you hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

So, start with the donor and uncover what they are interested in. With that information in hand, you are ready to move to the next step.

2. The Offer Creation Did Not Substantially Include Program and Finance

This is the other element of offer creation that is routinely neglected and abused. The very people who have the most to contribute to the offer creation are either left out of the process or consulted very lightly — almost as a superficial courtesy or obligation. 

Here are the very people who can add substantial value to your donor offer but they are ignored or sidelined. Why does this happen?

Fundraisers believe neither program or finance staff really knows much about fundraising. Program people are considered by most fundraisers to be technical people who are on the frontline doing the mission of the organization, so there really isn’t any reason to consult them in much depth. And then there’s the finance folks. Some fundraisers may view them as merely bean-counters, so it would be more complicated than it’s worth for a consultation. 

Some variation of both beliefs about program and finance folks is what causes their lack of involvement in offer creation and makes for a less than effective offer to present to donors. 

How to Improve Donor Offers

What can you do about this situation? It’s quite simple after you have identified your donor’s passions and interests. Here are four steps:

1. Match those passions and interests to the need your organization is addressing.
2. Meet with the program person who knows the most about that need and uncover everything you can know about what the problem is, what will happen if the problem is not addressed, what is being done to address the problem, what success is there, and what more can be done?
3. Then meet with finance to uncover how much is spent addressing the problem (Be sure they add an allocation of overhead to that cost). You might include your program person in this meeting to gain more insight on how the money is spent on the front line.
4. With this information from program and finance, you will be able to create an effective donor offer.

There is one other benefit to meeting with program and finance people like this for every donor offer you create. The sheer quantity of meetings you will have with these good folks will create a whole different dynamic among the fundraising, program and finance teams. You will be working as one team. Program and finance will feel very much a part of your process. And cooperation and community will grow as you — together — work to raise the funds needed for your important work.

And this is how it should be. The program and finance folks in your organization should be as much involved in fundraising as you are, providing the very information you need to motivate your donor to give to their potential. Try this and you will see that it is true.

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