Donor appreciation: creating a strategy & 22+ ideas
Our Ask An Expert series features real questions answered by Claire Axelrad, J.D., CFRE, our very own Fundraising Coach, also known as Charity Clairity.
Today’s question comes from a fundraiser who needs advice on what to do when leadership is afraid of asking donors for too much money.
Dear Charity Clairity, I work for a nonprofit where senior leadership is afraid of asking donors for too much money. We have some donors in our pool who could easily make six figure gifts and yet my boss and ED think we should still ask them for amounts in the low five figures. I feel like we're leaving money on the table that could fund important programs. How do I talk to my leadership about this?
—Leaving Money on the Table
Dear Leaving Money on the Table,
I’m so glad you asked! This is a real dilemma so many nonprofits face—underestimating donors’ capacity to give. And the cure is simple: Just ask for the right amount.
Of course, I know it’s not simple or you wouldn’t be in this predicament. So let’s talk through the ways this can happen:
- Leadership really doesn’t know how much the donor is worth. This can be a failure of research (e.g., they haven’t run the donor through a wealth screen) or simply a failure of due diligence (e.g., someone’s done some homework, but not enough). The fix: Do your research. Gather the data.
- Leadership confuses capacity with inclination. Just because a donor has the capacity to make a six-figure gift doesn’t mean they’re inclined to make one to your organization. Have you done enough cultivation to build the relationship to the point where the donor feels passionately about your work? The fix: Before making a major ask, make sure you’ve cultivated the relationship appropriately.
- Leadership, frankly, is afraid. You know this is happening when they have all the information and still want to ask for less. This kind of fear comes from: (a) not wanting to lose the donor; (b) not wanting to ask for what they think they cannot get; (c) thinking it’s unseemly to ask for too much; (d) worrying about how they’ll be perceived if the donor says ‘no.’ The fix: Reframe the ask.
Here are some talking points to help your leadership reframe the ask:
- Offering a major donor an opportunity to make a transformational gift is an act of respect, not imposition. Think about it this way: if someone came to you and asked you to make a million-dollar investment in Apple Computer in 1986, and you had the money to do it, would you feel disrespected? No, you’d feel grateful! The same is true when you give a donor the opportunity to make a major investment in your mission.
- Asking at the right level honors the donor’s due diligence (the research the donor does to vet your organization before considering a significant gift). Donors who are capable of making six-figure gifts spend a lot of time and energy researching your organization before they’re ready to make that kind of investment. Asking them for $5,000 when they’re ready to consider $100,000 doesn’t honor that due diligence; it undermines it.
- An ask that’s too low can actually insult a donor. Think about what a low ask says to a donor: “We don’t think you’re worth that much to us.” Not the message you want to send.
- Asking at the right level helps the donor accomplish their goals — not just yours. Donors have philanthropic goals, too. When you ask at the right level, you’re honoring their goals as much as your own.
I hope these talking points help! Let me know how it goes.
— Charity Clairity
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