Our world is increasingly defined by transactions, and short-term ones at that. That creates an obvious conundrum for nonprofit fundraising, where building relationships over time is at the core of what "development" is all about (and indeed, why "development" is often the preferred term to "fundraising").
But if you
make it easy, those transactions can plant the seed for productive long-term relationships.
Make it easy...to connectYou can't ask for a gift before someone understands who you are and what you stand for. How do you do that? Engage with people. Interact. Find where potential donors are (both in life and online) and be there.
Show them the impact your work has
from multiple angles. Tell stories that prove it.
People need to know what you do, and why, before they can care.Make it easy...to careYour fundraising needs are important...to
you. You can't assume people will "get it"
you need to
move them to care, not tell them. That means framing your case in terms your
potential donors feel passionate about: Do they want to make the world a better place? Do they care about education? New tools and technology? How will your organization help donors achieve their goals?
Meet them where they are, and move with them towards your shared goals.Make it easy...to actWhile we may want people to give to our organizations in certain ways, the only thing that matters is how
they want to give. And, once they've been exposed to easier ways to give (look at the $10 text message donations to Haiti, for example), they expect it to be that easy with
your organization, too.
They're right.So provide return envelopes. Make giving through your website a minimal-click event. In other words,
remove anything that gets in the way of giving the gift.Make it easy...to repeatIn a transactional world, you need to acknowledge and reward those who've taken the time to interact. Thank donors
without asking for another gift at the same time. Tell them what their gift accomplished
in terms that relate to what they care about. Make the $10 donor feel as valued as the $10,000 donor.
They took the time to give to you; make sure they want to do it again.Make it easy...to shareYou're no longer the only one telling your story. Actually, you never were, but now your donors and prospects have as much of a publishing platform as you, thanks to the tools of social media
and they trust their friends' opinions more than yours. So find and leverage influencers: give them information they can use and share and specific actions to take.
Feed their conversations.Connect, care, act, repeat, share.
It's a simple process,
really. But in this day and age, it has to be easy, too.
