Do you “have to” fundraise? Or do you “get to” fundraise? And is there really a difference?
I would argue, yes.
There’s an important distinction between things you HAVE to do and those you GET to do. Fundraising and giving are two of those things where people straddle that line — but shouldn’t.
Do You “Have To” Fundraise?
People who feel they “have to” fundraise generally don’t do a good job. It’s something they dread.
I spend a lot of time teaching board and staff members to think about fundraising positively, rather than negatively.
There’s a lot of negative connotations surrounding fundraising, including things like:
- twisting arms
- begging
- and yes — guilting someone into giving
Of course, someone who is guilted into a gift isn’t likely to give again next year. It probably wasn’t a positive experience and might even be downright negative.
Your Attitude Matters
Do you think we will raise more or less this year than last year? That was a question I was asked on this week’s Toolkit Talk.
- If you think you’ll raise less, you probably will. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- If you believe you won’t (or can’t) raise much money, your behavior will reflect that belief and you’ll be less likely to pick up the phone and call donors.
- However, if you believe you can raise a lot of money, you’ll do what it takes to make that happen.
That’s a long-winded way of getting to the point of today’s post:
Does it really matter why people give?
If they give out of guilt, does it really matter? After all, as long as they’re giving to your cause, who cares why?
The answer is very clear — you should care!
Case in Point: #GuiltingTuesday
For this year’s #GivingTuesday (more like #GuiltingTuesday), I received a slew of emails that tried to get me to give out of guilt.
Example #1: We’re coming up short
One subject line read: “We’re coming up short”.
This one made me sad. The email went on and on about how they weren’t raising enough money. But it didn’t tell me anything about what they did or who they served.
Should I give out of guilt? If I did, it would be one-time-only giving — simply because they were coming up short. Then again, if I bail you out this time, will I have to to give again next month or next year?
Not surprisingly, I didn’t make a gift.
Example #2: We need X to meet our goal
The next guilt-ridden email subject line read: “We need 12 more members to meet our goal”.
Is that supposed to inspire me to become a member? Do I even want to be a member? Certainly not because YOU need more members. What’s that got to do with me and how my interests intersect with your cause?
Once again, this email was written from the perspective of the organization’s needs rather than the needs of the community they serve… you know… the actual reason I’m motivated to give.
Transactional vs. Relational Fundraising
The goal of fundraising should be to build relationships. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. When people give out of guilt or obligation, there’s no connection… no commitment.
Transactional fundraising puts your organization on the tiresome hamster wheel of fundraising, where donors are leaving as fast (or faster) than you’re acquiring them.
On the other hand, when you build real relationships with people and they give from a place of love and joy, they will give again (…and again …and again).
As you head into year-end fundraising, think about the donors with whom you have relationships. How will you inspire them to give rather than sending them on a guilt trip?
A guilt trip is the last thing anyone needs in 2020.
“A guilt trip is the last thing anyone needs in 2020” is an incredibly insightful statement, whether in reference to fundraising or life in general!.
For those of us who follow all your guidance, please do give some credit to those who did the work to raise awareness for an important project and raised the money in one day with the momentum of #GT. We have 40 children to get back and forth to school every day and our tiny converted pick-up truck died last week. Even in Northern Thailand, it is very cold early in the morning. We can now buy a truck large enough to carry all the children to school safely.
As you and Andrea tell us every week – get up and reach out to your donors and build relationships every day. We were extremely grateful to the 60 donors who made our project possible and each received a personalized thank you.
Amy, the #GivingTuesday guilt-appeals are perhaps slightly better than some of the emails I received that wanted me to give just because of the date on the calendar. Sheesh! Some organizations got it right. Sadly, most that reached out to me did not.
Giving Tuesday worked really well the first two years since it was launched for my organization. After the second year, it absolutely felt way too transactional- and the competition was overwhelming and overcoming FOMO on the campaign was hard to shake..
This year, and last year, I did not participate in the campaign. I did however send personal thank you emails to those donors that gave toward my campaign since January and sent them an update of our capital campaign construction and a thermometer showing them what we have raised since July and a link to the campaign donation page.
This article was very insightful. I am a student and taking a class in fundraising for non profits. What type of delivery method would you recommend for a grass roots organization? We are a VFW in Springfield Illinois, and our constituency range from all wars from the last 50 years. Some do not Facebook, some do not email. This class has defiantly shown me what fundraising is. I appreciate the post. Thank you for the read.
As I say during our community radio pledge drives, guilt is a terrible reason to give. “But I invite you to think about why you feel guilty. ”
Is it because you believe in a radio station that is not driven by commercial interests? That plays the music that our hosts of various genres want to play?
Do you listen to {station call letters} because you are tired of the “must have” consumerist mentality that media sells?
Do you listen because you know you will never hear the same song twice in one week?
Do you listen because you receive a musical education from our volunteer hosts, many of whom are recognized as experts in their fields?
Do you listen to hear all the local artists that play live in our studios?
These are all great reasons to support our work. I invite you to lose your guilt and give to something you believe it.
I promise you, supporting something that matches your values, turning on {station call letters} and feeling like you made our efforts possible is a great feeling.
So call now, 608-XXX-XXXX or go online at XXXX.org and feel good about doing good.