Facilitate Means to Make Easy

But it’s not easy for you.

It’s hard work.

Because, inside the mind of a potential donor, many things are working against you.

• I don’t know enough about you. 
• I can’t make a real difference. 
• I don’t think of myself as a philanthropist. 
• I don’t know how to evaluate one charity against another. 
• I don’t know how much to give.
• I don’t have time for this. 

People have competing demands for their attention and resources. It’s hard for them to make a decision.

So the easiest thing to do, for them, is to reach no decision at all.

Of course, no decision is a decision.

And when you don’t make it easy for donors to choose to support your charity, you inevitably make it easy for them to choose not to.

This is where I ask you how you view your role.

Are you a philanthropy facilitator or a fundraiser?

And why, do you think, making this distinction might matter?

Philanthropy Facilitators Make it Easy for People to Give

You may think you’re doing a great job as a fundraiser.

After all, you’re implementing all the tactics people tell you to. You’re mailing appeals, sending emails, publishing newsletters, posting on social media, and more. And people are giving.

But… guess what?

Many more are not.

You’re very likely leaving money on the table. Lots of it.

Why?

Because you’re making giving hard. And even maybe painful or joyless.

In other words, you’re making it transactional. Not transformational.

Form over substance.

How Fundraisers Make Giving Hard

When you treat donors like ATMs, you’re thinking about their wallet. Not philanthropy (philos/love of anthropos/humankind).

People want to love. People want to be loved. People are love.

Every time you make the ask more about money than love, you make it harder for your donor to give.

EXAMPLE: DON’T LEAD WITH “We’re asking everyone to give $50 in honor of our 50th anniversary.”

This approach leads to too much thinking, too little acting.

Because people get distanced from their emotional urge to be genuinely, lovingly helpful. Instead, they are primed – by you – to go through a mental calculation.

• Why this amount?
• Can I afford this?
• What will it mean I am unable to do if I part with this money?
• Will this amount even accomplish anything?
• Why am I considering this again?

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t ask for a specific amount of money. Absolutely you should. But not without making a strong case — via a well-told story — for this asked-for support.

Every time you don’t lead with a compelling story, you make it harder for donors to give.

EXAMPLE: DON’T LEAD WITH “One in five people in our community doesn’t get enough to eat.”

The best philanthropy facilitation is about the heart, not the head. Passion, not calculation. One identifiable person’s story, not anonymous masses.

While leading with shocking statistics may seem like a good idea, data doesn’t stick.

• We naturally want to put up our dukes and fight data.
• We want proof if we’re to believe in its truth.
• Numbers make us want to pause and ask questions, rather than act philanthropically.

Which is to say, our minds go wandering down a rabbit hole when confronted with numbers. On the other hand, human beings are wired for story.

Every time you don’t re-enforce your messaging through the telling of multiple stories, at multiple times, you make it harder for donors to give.

EXAMPLE: DON’T LEAD WITH “Our story is one of belonging. We build human connections to reduce isolation, enhance health and well-being, and improve quality of life.” [This is a real appeal I received.]

If you feel you must tell a single story that captures the depth and breadth of what you do, you’ll inevitably water down your appeal.

Think of philanthropy facilitation as the telling of a book of short stories. Each one conveys an aspect of what you do.

• Don’t try to dump everything you do into one big, messy “kitchen sink.”
• “Everything” is too hard for a donor to wrap their brain around.
• Tell them one specific story at a time, (1) demonstrating a resonant problem, (2) presenting a believable solution, and (3) suggesting how their gift will help with a positive resolution of the problem.

You’ve no doubt got a lot of stories. Terrific!  Send a lot of messages. The idea of “one appeal and done” is outmoded in an era where we can inexpensively communicate with our audiences over multiple channels. Each message you send… each story you tell… each appeal you make… is a philanthropic opportunity for your would-be donor. A chance to enact their values. A chance to experience the joy of giving. A chance to love themselves, while also loving others.

And nothing leads folks into this opportunity better than “want me to tell you a story?”

Every time you make the process of giving onerous, you make it harder for donors to give.

Once you’ve tendered your call to action, you must present a user-friendly way to follow through.

If it’s too much of a burden to make a gift, the donor will give up. And this can happen for a number of different reasons.

EXAMPLES: Ways nonprofits make giving more difficult than it needs to be:

• It’s challenging to find your donation button.

• Your email, website or donation landing page are not mobile friendly.

• Your remit form (whether hard copy with direct mail or online) asks for too much information, ersonal information the donor may be reluctant to give, or information you’ll likely never use, but you thought you’d ask anyway because you saw it on someone else’s form. This makes the process of giving too time-consuming.

• You offer too many choices (either of dollar amount, purpose of gift or calls to action), leading to analysis paralysis.

• The donor can’t find your tax identification number on your website, and they need it to give from a donor advised fund or private foundation or leverage a corporate matching gift.

• It’s unclear how to make other than a straight cash or credit card gift. What if the donor wants to give stock, crypto, or appreciated property? What if they want to give using PayPal, Apple Pay, Venmo, Zelle or make a direct ACH transfer from their bank?

• The donor isn’t reassured giving to you is secure.

How Development Departments Make Giving Hard

Part of the problem is fundraisers tend to silo themselves from marketing staff.

And vice versa.

Frequently this reflects organizational structure, which often has these as two separate departments – even reporting to different people!

But, the prospective donor only sees one organization.

Every time you see your responsibilities narrowly, not holistically, you make it harder for donors to give.

Even within integrated departments there’s a tendency for fundraisers to busy themselves with selling and closing, while leaving the strategic marketing communications that leverage their success to other staff.

If you’re the fundraiser, it’s your job to facilitate philanthropy – every step along the engagement pathway — from awareness… to interest… to involvement… to investment.

This means proactively connecting and collaborating with marketing and IT staff to assure all the preconditions are in place for successful fundraising.

Every time you focus only on the last part of the engagement continuum, investment, you make it harder for donors to give.

By not considering the entire marketing continuum, you’re likely to have a smaller pool of potential supporters with whom to work.

By not approaching marketing from a donor-centered perspective, you’re likely to fail to inspire the philanthropy needed to fulfill your mission.

TRUE STORY: In my experience as a director of development and marketing at five different organizations, I found marketing and IT staff truly appreciated having an overarching development perspective as a framework for their labor.

“Now that I understand who we’re writing to, and what they care about, I feel much more part of the mission. It’s not just about selling programs but inspiring folks and helping them help others.”

— Senior Copywriter (this is a real testimonial from one of the staff I supervised)

 “Thanks for teaching me “development writing.” It’s fun, and fulfilling, to have a perspective from which to begin, knowing it’s more likely to generate contributions.”

— Marketing Associate (ditto)

“Before I just set the webpage up to look good, without understanding how principles from psychology and behavioral economics could boost form completion.”

— Webmaster (ditto)

Every time anyone says “that’s not my job,” you make it harder for donors to give.

While I’m not suggesting you create and implement every strategy yourself, part of the job of “development” is uncovering people who share the values your organization enacts. Doing so requires an integrated marketing communications strategy (e.g., choice of channels; frequency of communications; use of influencers and social proof, selection of target markets, segmentation and more).

If you want to get to investment, here are some of the things you should not consider to be purely “someone else’s job:”

EVERYONE charged with fundraising or marketing responsibility should care about:

• List building and hygiene

• Website homepage

• Website donation button

• Website donation landing and thank you pages

• Website email sign-up forms

• Website donation pop-ups

• Video content

• Social media content

• Advertising content

• Newsletter and blog content

• Annual report content

• Form 990 content

How Development Departments Can Make Giving Easy

You need to channel the mantra of “help, don’t sell.”

It’s the absolute best way to secure philanthropic investments.

Again, I’m not saying you shouldn’t ultimately ask. You must! But don’t just tell and sell. If want gifts, you must give them.

This makes it an easy “no-brainer” for people to give because, by offering helpful gifts, you trigger one of the psychological principles of influence – reciprocity.  When you help people, they naturally feel inclined to help you back.

Plus, when you offer useful content, folks will experience your value — and then sell themselves! When people self-select in this manner, they feel the opposite of coerced (as in “let’s hit them up;” “let’s twist their arm”).

Donors who are loved feel validated and uplifted!

Final Thoughts

Money is merely a symbol, representing what can be accomplished through giving.

Facilitating philanthropy means making this accomplishment easy for the donor to sense, not symbolically but in reality. Through stories and examples that help them see, feel, hear, smell and taste the urgency of the problem. A problem they can help solve.

Make it easy for people to see what happens if they give/don’t give.

Simplify. Black and white choices work best.

Make it easy for them, once they choose to help, to follow through.

Don’t take them down rabbit holes of over-thinking and analysis paralysis.

Capture their attention, connect with them on a human level, ask for your desired action, and facilitate philanthropy!

Want to Also Make it Easy for People to Keep Giving?

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Image: Three San Francisco Hearts: Retreat. Here is My Heart. In Full Bloom. Benefit for San Francisco General Hospital Foundation.