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Potential donors are people too!
Warning to all fundraisers - beware the information trap! The information trap is an obsession. It compels its victim to gather information at all costs and to keep exploring every link and every lead to a particular potential donor.
Real people do not just reside in data files. They eat, sleep, work, have weekends off, have friends and interests, likes and dislikes and a life just like anyone else. At some point all the information gathered has to be acted upon. It is all to easy to be enticed into a flurry of information gathering that, like the fast moving carousel, becomes ever harder to jump off.
So how do we escape the information trap and start to convert raw data into human involvement? It invariably comes down to linkage - seeking out that special "someone" who can connect us to the potential donor. We need people in our charity's circle who can pursue and activate those linkages, taking advice from those closest to the potential donor on how best to approach them.
Our involved supporters (including trustees) should be asked to comb the prospect lists looking for connections – people who can introduce a prospective donor, who can inspire, motivate or somehow catch their deep personal interest.
Inviting potential donors to an open day or to tour a facility or meet some of the beneficiaries of a charity might start the process; alternatively a request to come and look at a particular problem and help advise on how to overcome it – these are the ways in which many donors may first become involved in the cause. Whether they represent a trust, a company, or come as individuals, we must remember that they are people!
Recent research in Why Rich People Give (by Theresa Lloyd, Philanthropy UK 2004) has demonstrated some telling reasons for making six and seven figure donations. Donors and their professional advisers was interviewed. Some had set up their own trusts, whilst others preferred to give direct to the cause. These donors all reported a passion for the cause they supported as the most important influence in their giving. But the research also showed that donors wanted to:
- Make a difference and be a catalyst for change
- Be appreciated and respected for their support and the expertise which is the source of their wealth
- Be concerned with governance, effective management and accountability
- Have relationships with senior staff in the recipient organisation, including those who deliver the mission, ultimate beneficiaries (where appropriate) and other donors to reinforce the commitment to the cause and make giving enjoyable and fun.
It is clear that the cause must strike a sufficient chord to make the donor feel "I must help", but these conclusions show that potential donors should also be engaged discussions which gave them the opportunity to satisfy the four points above.
More and more research may be one route to finding the key to a donor's motivation; but intelligent development of contact networks is far more likely to build an accurate picture of the prospect's personal interests and motivations. Research is essential, but also means going out and talking to real people!
Our consultancy work repeatedly shows that personal involvement is the key to support. My colleague Patrick Boggon of Tarnside Consulting has developed what he calls the Tarnside Curve of Involvement. He plots a series of key stages in prospect involvement against the likely level of gift. So long as the prospect is continuing to advance up the scale of involvement it is unwise to seek the gift; there will usually come a point where commitment is reaching at least a medium term peak – that is the moment to seek a financial commitment; more will follow if the giving experience is a good one, so develop and work on that relationship – not by sitting at a desk but by getting up and engaging with the prospective donor as an individual with preferences, pet hates, a warm heart and a desire to make a difference to other less fortunate people's lives.
THE TARNSIDE CURVE OF INVOLVEMENT
The further up the curve of involvement the prospective donor is, the greater the gift potential.
So what can the fundraiser do to reach this magical state of donor involvement?
- First – Stop staring at a computer and think about the real person behind the data.
- Second – find ways of engaging personally. This is usually best done through an intermediary, some mutual contact who has the respect of the potential donor and can encourage him or her to react positively.
- Third – remember that the research findings tell us that donors want to make a difference, feel that they have contributed more than just money, that they have added a unique expertise or element which have greatly improved the outcome.
The message is clear – use existing data sources intelligently to provide basic knowledge on prospective donors, but then look beyond the data to understand the person. Don't fall prey to the information trap – information for information's sake – but find the route of personal approach to a potential donor through which the door to his or her personal involvement can be opened.
Andrew de Mille, a partner in Andrew de Mille Fundraising Consultants, has over thirty years experience as a fundraising consultant specialising in major capital projects for which Trusts are one of the most significant sources of funding. He was one of the first members of the Institute of Fundraising, and one of the six founders, a former Chairman and current Board member, of the Association of Fundraising Consultants.
Tel 01628 527753 email andrew@demille.co.uk
This article was first published in Charity Funding Report (CaritasData Limited) in August 2005.