One of the quickest ways to make sure a would be donor doesn’t give is to ask them to do something so big they can’t possibly do it:
“We need $17 million to build the new wing of the museum.” For all but a very small group of donors, the answer will be, “Good luck with that!”
It’s almost as harmful to ask a donor to do something too small. That is likely uninspiring, and looks like you assume they’re stingy:
“We need $2 to fill the paper-towel dispenser in the 3rd floor mens’ room.”
The large majority of your donors are able and willing to give somewhere between $2 and $17 million.
Your job as a fundraiser is to ask the right amount of each of those donors, from the lowest to the highest. It’s easier to do than it might sound.
You already know the most important thing about each donor: How much they’ve given before. Whatever that amount is — they are by far most likely to give that much or close to it.
Let’s say you have a program where it costs $1,000 per week to provide food for everyone in a hunger-stricken village. That’s a great amount for donors who have given around $1,000. It’s way too much for most, and it’s too little for a few.
To give lower donors something thrilling to do, break that total cost down into small units, such as the cost per meal. Maybe it’s $1.79. Now you have something meaningful for a wide variety of donors at the lower end:
For donors who have given up to $20, you can ask them to give:
- 10 meals for $17.90
- 15 meals for $26.85
- 20 meals for $35.80
- 25 meals for $44.75
For a donor who’s given from $20 up to $30, you’d ask:
- 15 meals for $26.85
- 20 meals for $35.80
- 25 meals for $44.75
- 30 meals for $53.70
And on up. Each donor is being asked to do something tangible and satisfying by giving around what they’ve given before — and up a bit.
Starting what an amount close to what they’ve given before, you then scale up, allowing them to upgrade.
As you climb the gift size ladder, you might want to change the scale of what you’re offering to larger units, such as:
- Meals for a week: $12.53
- Meals for a month: $53.70
- Meals for a family per month: $268.50
For your donors approaching $1,000 and up, you can ask them to give enough to feed everyone for a week, two weeks … and on up.
You owe your donors this level of thought about what you’re asking them to do. It’s up to you to make it possible for each donor to make the world a better place by giving an amount they can afford.
When you do that, more of them give, and give more often.
Excerpted from The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand: Motivating Donors to Give, Give Happily, and Keep on Giving by Jeff Brooks
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