Donors Say: Enough about You. Let’s Talk about Me!

A recent study reveals that donors support charitable causes for “very personal reasons.” In other words, giving is about them (the donors and what motivates them) and is far less about you and your nonprofit organization.

This is not surprising news to those of us who practice donor-centered fundraising. Nevertheless, it’s nice to have additional research data that supports the idea of being donor centered.

Donor Loyalty Study: A Deep Dive into Donor Behaviors and Attitudes is the study report from Abila, a leading provider of software and services to nonprofit organizations. The researchers explored questions with a representative sample of 1,136 donors in the United States across all age segments who made at least one donation to a nonprofit organization within the previous 12 months.

The study identifies the three “main reasons for donating”:

• I am passionate about the cause — 59 percent
• I know that the organization I care about depends on me — 45 percent
• I know someone affected by their cause — 33 percent

Other reasons for donating generated far lower responses, ranging from just three to 18 percent.

You’ll notice that each of the top three reasons for giving involve “I” not necessarily you or your charity. Let’s explore this a bit.

The number-one reason for giving involves the donor’s passion. You’ll also notice that the donor is passionate about and supports the “cause” though not necessarily the organization.

In other words, I may be passionate about fighting cancer. However, I might be fickle when it comes to supporting a particular cancer charity. For example, this year, I might support the American Cancer Society. However, if I’m not stewarded or asked effectively, I might shift my support to the City of Hope next year. I’ll still be a passionate supporter of the fight against cancer, but the organization I choose to support will change.

The challenge for nonprofit organizations is to embody the cause for which donors have passion. An organization needs to demonstrate to its donors that it is the worthy channel for their passion. Remember, donors have choices. You need them more than they need you.

If you do what I’ve just said, donors will understand that you need them, that you “depend” on them. And that’s the second most common reason why people give. If your organization embodies a donor’s passion and let’s that donor know how important she is, she will be far more likely to renew and upgrade her support.

The third reason for giving is really just a sub-category of the first. Again, it’s about the “cause” rather than the organization. Yes, in some cases, it might be about your specific organization. However, that won’t always be the case.

By understanding your donors, you can tailor stewardship and appeal messages to them. This will improve your effectiveness.

New Donor Advised Fund Legislation Introduced in Congress

Late last year, the Federal Government made the IRA Charitable Rollover permanent. Now, just months later, Congress is considering a bill that would expand the IRA Rollover provision. If passed, the measure would allow donors to contribute IRA dollars to a Donor Advised Fund in addition to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations.

In the US Senate, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) introduced S-2750, Charities Helping Americans Regularly Throughout the Year Act. In the US House of Representatives, Rep. George Holding (R-NC) introduced a companion bill: HR-4907, The Grow Philanthropy Act of 2016.

(Just as an aside, I have to ask: Who came up with these bill names? I’m not sure if they suffered from too much creativity or not enough. In any case…)

The Senate bill has been assigned to the Finance Committee while the House bill has been sent to the Ways and Means Committee. At this point, it’s unclear whether either bill will receive a floor vote. And, if a vote is held, it’s uncertain whether the measure would pass. You can track the progress of the bills at GovTrack.us.

Even if the bills do not pass this year, it’s doubtful the matter will be dropped. Remember, it took many years before the existing IRA Charitable Rollover became permanent. So, unless the new measure passes this year, I think we can expect the matter to come up again.

Some fundraising professionals believe that DAFs are good for the nonprofit sector because they encourage more giving. Others believe that DAFs are harmful because they divert funds away from operating nonprofit organizations. Still others believe that it doesn’t matter what we think about DAFs because they’re here to stay.

10 Reasons Your #Nonprofit Should be Using Facebook

[Publisher’s Note: From time-to-time, I invite a published book author, with valuable insights, to write a guest post. If you’d like to learn about how to be a guest blogger, click on the “Authors” tab above.]

 

Would you like to understand why your nonprofit organization should embrace Facebook? Would you like a free book that’s full of tips that will help your charity get the most from Facebook? If you would, you’ll really enjoy this post.

This week, I have invited Richard Santos, Founder of Fundlio, to share his insights. Fundlio helps nonprofit organizations collect donations online by providing a mobile-friendly, secure and free platform. Fundlio also maintains a blog where the company shares tips and how-to information on a number of topics including fundraising, thank-you letters, collecting donations online, and creating organization awareness.

Richard has also written the book The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing for Nonprofits: How to ATTRACT SUPPORTERS & Receive More CONTRIBUTIONS for Your NONPROFIT Through FACEBOOK. While the Kindle version of the book is available for purchase on Amazon, Richard has kindly made his e-book available to the readers of Michael Rosen Says… for FREE! To download your free e-book copy, simply click here.

Richard’s book is a quick and simple-to-follow guide aimed at helping you create and develop an effective Facebook marketing strategy that will translate into attracting donors, increasing supporter engagement, and receiving more contributions for your cause. It’s based on proven tactics and strategies that will allow you to leverage the Facebook community and accomplish your nonprofit organization’s goals.

In addition to the terrific information and helpful tips Richard provides in his book, he now offers 10 important reasons your nonprofit organization should be using Facebook:

 

There are numerous online tools available for nonprofits and charities, allowing organizations like yours to use the power of the Internet and social media to its full potential. Facebook for Nonprofits is a great way of creating more awareness about your cause and eventually raising more funds to fulfill your mission.

However, I know that a nonprofit leader’s time is limited and that it’s hard to squeeze one more extra activity into your tight schedule. Whenever someone makes a suggestion on a new marketing tactic, the first question that pops into your head is: “Why should I take the time, effort, and budget to implement this?”

Let me provide you with an answer to the question in 10 straightforward points:

1.  A large percentage of your audience is on Facebook.

Facebook has almost 1.6 billion active users all over the world, which means that many of the potential donors you are targeting are using Facebook. One more interesting statistic: 31 percent of all US senior citizens use Facebook – this shows the huge impact that Facebook has on people from multiple categories. If you want to use the one channel where most of your audience is active, Facebook is the solution.

2.  You can raise awareness.

Having a compelling nonprofit story on your website is not sufficient – many potential supporters may not reach your website and you will lose donors and volunteers. On the other hand, your nonprofit is much more visible on Facebook, either through advertising or through page suggestions. Someone who’s interested in your cause just needs to hit “Like” and from that moment on, you will appear in their newsfeed. Better visibility means more awareness for your cause – your fans will develop an interest in your organization without even noticing.

3.  You can attract new supporters.

Facebook allows you to increase your visibility, aside from just communicating to your loyal audiences. Try the following features and your fans’ friends will also have contact with your page: similar page suggestions, adding the physical address so fans can check-in, and creating Facebook events. These features allow you to become visible to people who have not liked your page yet and to encourage them to become your fans.

4.  You can build a community.

Although there are many people passionate about the same idea, they rarely have time to meet in a physical location and develop relationships. On the other hand, interacting on social media is easier and helps them save time. Audiences use Facebook groups to gather around the causes they support – here they can discuss various issues, connect to other people, and organize events.

5.  Facebook allows you to engage supporters.

The secret to a successful fundraising campaign is supporter engagement. It’s recommended to implement multiple creative ideas rather than just featuring a “Donate” button on your page and just waiting for money to pop in. Some methods you can use to attract donors on Facebook are the following: running contests, setting mini-goals, using storytelling, implementing a matching gift campaign, asking supporters to give up a pleasant activity and donate the money, or inflicting silly punishments on your nonprofit organization leaders to encourage donations.