Often, when I’m presenting on fundraising to religious organizations and educational institutions, “How do we get current donors to give more money?” is a common question. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: Assuming they have the capacity to give more, let’s think of a specific donor—how involved are they with your organization?
Church/School: They’re not very involved.
Me: Are you likely to give more to an organization you’re more involved or less involved?
Church/School: Good point.
Me: When you give donors projects and/or responsibilities they are willing to embrace—they become more engaged—they can’t help but give larger donations, if they have the capacity…they become invested in the organization’s success.
Church/School: What sort of projects?
Me: Well, you have to find out their skills, what they’re willing to do, and your organization’s capacity to include volunteers. Some donors may be willing to serve on a committee—Finance, Development, Marketing/Communications, Outreach, etc. Others may prefer specific tasks they can work on alone like previewing the annual report, helping to develop a case for support, interviewing a potential employee, etc.
Church/School: We can do that.
Me: And, from your interactions with the donor, while they’re “working,” you should be assessing what most interest them about your organization. Say they’re interested in youth programs. You may want to schedule a lunch with the Youth Coordinator to illustrate all you are doing for youths and what potential new programs you’d like start.
Church/School: We can do that too.
Me: Depending on the dynamics of your organization, you can now ask them for a significantly larger gift with far great odds of them agreeing to step up their giving towards a program you know they care about.
Church/School: That sounds easy.
Me: Yep, it’s certainly not rocket science. Yet, you’d be surprised at how infrequent donors are invited to become involved with the organizations they care about.
To further illustrate this point, about 2 months ago, I encourage one of my clients to ask one of his larger donors to preview the annual report and to invite him to the join the development committee for a specific program. Well, just last week, the donor told my client he’s donating a $50,000 gift to the church and said he will be giving another additional gift to the program which the development committee was commissioned, which he sits on. Before these interactions and engagements, this donor’s largest gift to the church was $10,000. And, remember, all of this occurred before we’d even asked.
So, remember! If you want larger gifts? Put donors to work!!