logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
    • Glossary
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Unraveling Development: Donors, Not Donations

Simone Joyaux
July 15, 2009
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Do you treat your donors like ATM machines? I’ve heard donors say that you do.

Giving is not a financial transaction, but rather,one of the most personal acts anyone can make.

But too often, in the press for money, organizations focus on money rather than on donors. Be careful not to be that kind of organization. Treating giving like a financial transaction is a quick way to lose donors.

Keep this in mind: The purpose of fund development is to find donors, not donations. The smart organization would rather have a donor who has been giving $25 annually for 10 years than someone who will give you $500 today. The 10-year donor is loyal. Keep her. She’s telling others about you. Nurture the relationship better and she may give you more money when she’s able. And donor loyalty drives bequest giving, too.

Remember, donors are not just interchangeable money sources. Donors give to you for reasons you can only guess at. Don’t guess. Ask them why they give!

My colleague Richard Radcliffe, legacy guru from the U.K., says that the most important question we can ask a donor is: Why did you first give? (By the way, if you ever have a chance to hear Richard Radcliffe speak, do it! Richard is insightful, focused, and very funny. And he’s spoken with thousands of donors through personal interviews and focus groups.)

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Adrian Sargeant’s (author of Building Donor Loyalty) research reinforces Richard’s comment: You need to know why donors started giving to your organization. In fact, Sargeant goes on to say that probing why a he or she made that first gift is essential in determining whether you can develop a relationship with that donor.

Giving is about the donor, not about your organization or your cause. Your organization is the conduit by which donors live out their interests and fulfill their aspirations. No two donors are alike. And you need to know their interests and disinterests, their motivations and aspirations.

Test yourself right now. What do you know about your donors? Do you know what excites your most loyal donors and what annoys them? Do you know the different interests of different donors?

It’s time to build a donor-centered organization. And if your donor-centric quotient is already pretty high, aim even higher!

Read Kay Sprinkel Grace’s e-book Donor-Driven Philanthropy. Download at www.simonejoyaux.com.

Read Seth Godin’s Blog, The Agitator, and donorpowerblog. Subscribe for free. Read daily and learn.

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Simone Joyaux

Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE is recognized internationally as an expert in fund development, board and organizational development, strategic planning, and management. She is the founder and director of Joyaux Associates.

More about: OpinionPhilanthropyUnraveling Development

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

summer_sidebar_subscribe
You might also like
Ruling on Affirmative Action Could Affect Hiring
Isaiah Thompson
Economic Justice: Nonprofit Leaders Speak Out
Dr. Akilah Watkins, Nelson I. Colón, Jon Pratt, Marla Bilonick, Clara Miller, Seema Agnani and Gary L. Cunningham
Public Dollars for Public Good
Carmen Rojas
Child Care Is a National Emergency
Elizabeth Barajas-Román and Shannon Rudisill
Can We Build the Movement Journalism Infrastructure That We Need?
John Duda
Healing the Frontlines of Racial, Climate, and Gender Injustice
Daelin Brown

NPQ Webinars

Oct 5th and 6th, 2:00 PM ET

Mastering QuickBooks 2023

Advanced QuickBooks for Nonprofits for Online Users

Register Now
Oct 26th, 2:00 PM ET

Becoming A Great Manager

How to Conspire and Align with the People You Lead

Register Now
You might also like
Black man holding up a shard of a broken mirror, so that only his eye is visible. He is looking away.
Ruling on Affirmative Action Could Affect Hiring
Isaiah Thompson
Abstract painting titled, “They Have Their Own Dishes” by Yuet Lam-Tsang. The piece features delicate and balanced strokes of white, light green, teal, and gray. There is a shadowy figure at the bottom, and a white outline traversing the painting.
Economic Justice: Nonprofit Leaders Speak Out
Dr. Akilah Watkins, Nelson I. Colón, Jon Pratt, Marla Bilonick, Clara Miller, Seema Agnani and Gary L. Cunningham
Abstract painting titled, “No More Hiding” by Yuet Lam-Tsang. The piece features delicate and balanced strokes of white, light green, orange, and gray.
Public Dollars for Public Good
Carmen Rojas

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Summer 2023 issue

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Funders
  • Magazine Art

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.