How to Tell Prospective Donors What You Do

It’s not about you. The biggest mistake you can make is thinking your organization is the story. 

People aren’t buying your organization. When someone asks: “What do you do?” they’re not interested in your organization so much as what your organization accomplishes.

Imagine you’re at a dinner party and someone asks, “What do you do?” Are you going to tell them your entire life story — every aspect, from job to education to family to hobbies? No, of course not.

You’ll tell them one thing about yourself. Why? Because they don’t know you. They’re not yet interested in you. First, you have to intrigue them.

The same holds true with your nonprofit. Whenever someone asks the question, “What does your organization do?” — whether explicitly or implicitly — your job is simply this: Tell them about one resonant thing you accomplish. An accomplishment that is:

• Timely (urgent, seasonal).
• Topical (currently in the news).
• Something you know they’re interested in (They, someone else or something in their background told you as much).
• The most popular program you operate (If you have none of the above, go with the odds).
• Surprising, extraordinary, cutting-edge, a game changer (Maybe you’re new, but you’re necessary).

Always Lead With Your Passion

It amazes me how detached some nonprofit leaders can sound when asked about what their organization does. People approach me for help raising money, and forget to lead with why they want to do so. 

Something presumably led them to align themselves with this cause, but the vision, mission and values about which they are hopefully passionate are now taking a backseat to the chore at hand. And the chore of fundraising is not what they, or the donors, are interested in. 

“Help us meet our fundraising goal” will fall on mostly deaf ears — or, at least, disimpassioned ones. 

Fundraising is merely a servant to philanthropy. And philanthropy — love of humanity — is born of passion.

Passion is contagious.

Don’t Lead With Your Category

Don’t tell me you’re a hospital foundation, a comprehensive human services agency, a symphony, a food bank, an education foundation, an animal shelter or a maritime museum. That’s an empty structure, a category. Instead, tell me something specific and meaningful that calls you to this mission.:

• You’re saving lives through cancer research.
• You’re keeping people safe and off the streets.
• You’re soothing the savage beast through music.
• You're preventing kids in your community from falling behind.
• You’re rescuing abandoned puppies.
• You’re healing the ocean.

Get to the root of why you feel you’re engaged in tackling one of the world’s — or your community’s — most pressing problems. Talk about the single most important thing (SMIT) you’re dealing with — or care about — right now.

“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in,” Rachel Carson wrote as she contemplated the loneliness of creative work after her unexampled books about the sea made her one of the most beloved writers of her time, “you will interest other people.” 

– Maria Popova, The Marginalian

Eschew the Weeds

Whether speaking to someone face-to-face or writing a fundraising appeal, it can be easy to get lost in the weeds of the depth and breadth of what your organization does. Sure, it’s all important. But you don’t want to come at a prospective donor like a firehose, especially not when you’re first meeting them.

So, why do so many nonprofits do this? Sometimes, it’s because of the human tendency toward overcomplication. After all, we’re complex beings. We have a lot going on and don’t want to look like we’re simple or one note. We want to look professional, multi-faceted and organized. 

Fact: Complexity kills fundraising.

The truth is your donors don’t care. All of the ways in which your organization works — numbers served, geographic reach, numbers of staff and volunteers, years in existence, range of programs and services, awards won — is simply not interesting to potential donors. Oh, maybe a little, but it’s not compelling. Their interest will flag quickly because they don’t care about the process. They care about results.

Focus on the Change 

What change will their gift bring about? Simple black and white results. “You’ll restore hope” is not something a donor can visualize.

Spell it out: 

• If they give, something clearly good happens. 
• If they don’t, something clearly bad happens.

Fundamentally, that’s all the donor wants to know. And they desperately need to know this.

• Tell them a short story.
• Show them what they can do to give that story a happy ending.

The best fundraising is simple.

Giving is triggered by the social-emotional part of the brain. We get a jolt of pleasurable dopamine and a warm glow merely contemplating a philanthropic gift. But, as soon as complexity (numbers, data, facts, figures) enters the picture, a more analytical part of the brain is triggered. This part of the brain thinks and deliberates, stopping your would-be donor dead in their tracks. It may motivate contemplation; it won’t motivate giving.

Let Your Donor’s Philanthropic Journey Begin

Be their guide, by sharing your passion.

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. This is so important, regardless of whether you’re applying it to your personal or professional life. It stems from your beliefs. It requires you to examine your beliefs. And your passions.

Your passion is expressed by making profound change happen. In your organization. Community. Region. World. Your donor’s passion is expressed the same way. Match your passion to your donor’s passion. Fan the flames of passion by inviting folks on a transformative journey — one that will stoke donor fires and meaningfully fulfill the desires of both you and your investors.

Become a passionate philanthropy facilitator and you’ll become much more than a forgettable fundraiser. Your meaningful work will live on as a legacy.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.