Telling stories about your organization, the cause you work with are great, but what about the “Donor Story”?
People want to know what you do, why you do it, but people also want to know why you get the support you get, why people have chosen to support you; what drives them to open their wallets and donate to help you with the work you’re doing.
When was the last time you asked supporters to share why they give to you – or is it something you haven’t thought about doing? If you haven’t done it yet, do it – get your donor stories out there.
It’s one thing for you to know who your donors are, but it’s another to tell others (if you can) who supports you and why.
Michael Rosen recently shared 8 Valuable Insights from a Major Donor where he talks about a major donor sharing why he and his wife support causes. The donor (Daniel) and his wife contribute to a variety of nonprofit organizations and serve on a number of nonprofit boards.
Michael shares that Daniel told his class that he believes “donors see their giving as an extension of themselves.” He indicated that the more involved he is with an organization, the more personally he’s connected, the more likely he is to donate. In addition, he said that he is motivated by the notion of “giving back.” If he, or a family member, has benefited from the services of an organization in a significant way, he’s more likely to contribute.
However, for Daniel, it’s not all about involvement and reciprocity. He needs to also have confidence in an organization’s leadership before he’ll provide a significant gift. Two of the things that help build his confidence in the leadership are:
- the quality of the organization’s products or services,
- the demonstrated efficiency with which the organization provides those products or services.
If I was to look at supporting an organization I’d want to know the same things Daniel does, I’d also like to know why others are doing what they’re doing.
Read Micheal’s full article here and think about what you could be doing to share your donor stories to grow your supporter base.
And have a look at Jeff Brook’s recent post “What donors are interested in”
You might also like to read:
Are you telling donor stories, if so please share why you’re doing it and what impact it’s had on growing supporters.
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