Comments on: Answer the Only Question Donors Have and You’ll Raise More Money Fundraising https://www.expertfundraiser.org/2011/11/11/answer-question-donors-have-raise-more-money-fundraisin/ Fundraising ideas and how-to advice for non-profit organizations Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:42:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.com/ By: Stephen McCullough https://www.expertfundraiser.org/2011/11/11/answer-question-donors-have-raise-more-money-fundraisin/#comment-140 Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:34:18 +0000 https://www.raisersharpe.com/blog/?p=853#comment-140 Many fundraisers are still running on an assumption of trust. It’s critical to spend time in the shoes of a potential donor. They are consumers, and they are trained by the times in which they live. Information and opinion on virtually any product or service is easily and swiftly available. They expect specifics.

Donors always wanted to know they were making a difference. What’s been added is a sense that they are entitled to an immediate and detailed sense that they are making a difference. There is also an increasing demand for a simple, direct, route from cash to result. In other words, make it simple, and let the journey of my dollar from wallet to changing the world be short.

This appears to pose problems for complex charitable goals – say, international development. It’s a complex field. But tough: donors want specifics. They want results that matter, not a a generalized “we used 80% of your donation for the stated goals”. If organizations can’t be specific about results they will succumb to the appeal of those that can.

I’ve heard mutterings that huge effort goes into preparing statistics and reports of results, and placing them online, only to find that donors don’t look at them. This misses the point. They will donate if you are open and detailed in reporting. They may rarely look, but they know they can – and that’s what counts.

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