Invite Nonprofit Donors Into Your Story, Giving Them a Powerful Role to Play

You must invite your donor into the story.

Take yourself out of the equation.

Donors don’t care about you, but about what they can do through you.

Stop talking about your good work.

Talk, instead, about the good work your donor wants to do.

How?

5-Step Strategy to Illuminate the Donor’s Role in Repairing the World  

1.Tell a quick story about a specific project.

You’ve got lots of stories. They’re probably interesting enough to grab your donor’s attention. Don’t make the mistake of trying to talk about your entire mission all at once in a fundraising message.  It’s too much for people’s brains to absorb.

What you want to do, for every appeal, is pick a resonant problem that needs a solution. Right now. This invokes urgency, summoning the donor to work on the problem immediately. They should never feel tempted to walk away from the problem, or save your appeal to look at “later.” Most of the time, “later” never happens.

TIP: The problem should be defined enough the donor can easily wrap their brain around it. And the solution should be believable.

A cure for cancer? Ending world hunger? Reversing climate change? Providing a college education? ALL. TOO. BIG.

Fund a cancer research study. Feed a local family. Clean micro plastics from the beach. Underwrite one scholarship. DOABLE.

2.Give the donor a powerful role to play.

Because of how the brain works, human beings are constantly endeavoring to survive.  Beyond that, even when basic needs are fulfilled, we humans still want a mission… connection… purpose. Just as there is a Maslow Hierarchy of needs, there is a Donor Hierarchy of Needs.

Don’t talk about your organization’s mission; talk about your donor’s mission. They have fears, hopes, and dreams. They have values they want to enact.

Your job, as a philanthropy facilitator, is to help them easily help others. When you do this, you’ll unleash their generosity.

TIP: You’ve probably heard a lot about using the word YOU a lot.

Yes, yes, yes!

Go through your communications and take out all the organization-centric pronouns. “I,” “we,” “us,” “our,” [name of your organization] that you can.

3. Speak your donor’s values back to them.

Caring, compassionate, empathic, generous, religious, understanding, welcoming, essential… In my role leading development at a comprehensive social services agency. these are words donors fed back to me when I asked them to write one adjective to describe our vision, mission, and values. I included a space on our direct mail remit piece for folks to write this when they returned their donation. I then used these words, reflecting their values, both in thank you letters, reports and fundraising appeals.

• “Thank you for caring.”

• “Thanks to your compassion…”

• “Thanks to your generosity…”

• “Thanks for your faith in this essential commandment to help others less fortunate…”

• “Thanks for your understanding of the problem, and the path forward.”

• … and so forth

4. Speak your donor’s identity back to them.

Climate activist; animal rescuer; environmentalist; music lover; friend to strangers; pro-choice, seeker of peace, justice fighter… These are some of the ways I’ve heard donors describe themselves via surveys and focus groups.

TIP: You can probe both for (1) identities that may be present for the donor, as well as for (2) how central they are to how they see themselves. Donors will give more when you connect your cause to something about themselves with which they strongly identify.

5. Ask your donor to solve the problem. 

Don’t ask them to help you solve the problem. No more “We believe;” “We help;” We provide. [Name of your organization] is committed to… Instead, focus on the donor’s role in making positive change occur.

TIP: (1) directly outline the problem that needs addressing; (2) invite the donor into the story, and (3) ask the donor to directly help.

• “Your help will provide fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked meat, eggs, milk, and other dairy products to children who are hungry and malnourished.”

• “You’ll agree every child should get a healthy start in life, and be spared the pain of avoidable illnesses and even starvation.”

• “Will you give $20 a month to feed a child in need?”

Final Thoughts

The job of today’s nonprofit leaders is to give people the power they have trouble finding on their own.

To facilitate people’s best instincts. To help people turn their feelings of helplessness and despair into acts of helpfulness and hope.

When you’re able to do this, you also empower your would-be helpers.

Those who facilitate philanthropy not only help the beneficiaries of the outpouring of love, they also help the philanthropists by bringing meaning and purpose into their lives.

• Make it your mission to help donors give.
• Make it your mission to help volunteers act.
• Make it your mission to help advocates advocate.

Especially when the world seems out of control.

It’s one way to alter current reality and restore balance to a wobbling world.

Photo by cottonbro studio, courtesy of Pixabay