Seven steps to a relevant fundraising offer

Relevance is the secret to fundraising. That's all. If your message fits in with your donor's life, the chance that she'll give is very high.

But it's not easy to be relevant. There's a gap in understanding between you and your donor. You are an expert in your field, she is not.

The place where being relevant matters most is your offer -- the specific thing you're asking the donor to do. A relevant fundraising offer has six elements:

1. Problem or opportunity
Present the donor with a specific situation that demands a response. The general, big-picture need for what your organization does will not accomplish this.

2. Solution
Help the donor see that her money does something real, that her gift translates to a solution to the problem.

3. Cost
You need to connect the problem and situation to her pocketbook. The donor's part in the solution should feel meaningful. Ask for amounts that are in the neighborhood of the donor's previous giving.

4. Urgency
You need specific reasons for the donor not to delay her response. If a donor puts the decision aside for later, the chance of it happening drops dramatically. Give a meaningful deadline. And make it clear that there are negative consequences of failure to act.

5. Context
A good fundraising offer does not require special knowledge to understand. You should be able to write your offer in one sentence. Avoid professional jargon and solutions that are not closely connected to problems.

6. Donor benefits
You should make it very clear to your donor that something good will come back to her as a result of her giving, such as:

• Giving will make it possible for us to continue to serve you, or serve others like you.
  
• Giving will help make the world or our community a better place.
  
• Giving will fulfill a religious or social obligation.
  
• Giving will make you feel good.
  
• Giving is tax deductible.
  

7. Emotion
The case for any fundraising offer needs to be visceral and emotional -- with facts that back it up. You can't educate a donor into giving. Having an air-tight rational case for your offer will get you nowhere -- until you can bring a tear to the donor's eye.

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Comments

[Jason]

Those are some great steps. I think that it doesn't always have to be that complex. I've found that if you are able to establish a relationship with a donor the major steps you need to take are an introduction to the organization and an informed and simple ask. I've often found the more complex I make the process the harder it is to actually get a gift out of a donor.

[Jason]

I should have said receive a gift from a donor.

[Ted Grigg]

As you know Jeff, making a specific offer meets the donor's needs more easily than the organization's.

The organization desperately needs general funds to pay for overhead such as salaries, utilities, buildings, computers and so forth that are appropriate expenses for any nonprofit. But it's tough as the dickens to raise money for those necessary items in direct channels.

Have you raised substantial dollars for general funds using direct mail or the Internet? If so, how did you do it?