Posted: April 29, 2024
When I first started working in the nonprofit, it was for a larger United Way office. I began working on employee campaigns which typically required presenting the mission to groups of employees and asking for pledges. It was one shot at delivering a message in the hope that it would resonate with the audience. It started out relatively well early in my new job, but then I began to feel something was missing.
Obviously the United Way has a long history and a strong brand awareness, almost everyone has heard of it, but somehow that alone was not quite sufficient to engage a significant number of audience members, and it was my mistake to believe that the brand reputation was enough to stimulate a significant number of pledges. I thought about my presentation for some time until I came to the conclusion that I was missing something. I realized that I was asking individuals in the audience to pledge a donation to help reduce hunger, homelessness and other societal problems that the organization targeted, and while some did donate, there was still a hesitancy in the room. I then altered my message. I said; “no one is expecting you to end hunger, homelessness or other societal problems alone. Your pledge, along with pledges of others in this room, and on this floor, in this building, around this community and so on, together can have a lasting impact.” This was the truth, and the number of pledges did increase. Not only is there a positive sense of belonging to a group doing good work, but it also says that this organization is credible because so many people participate. The hesitancy soon dissipated and there was a noticeable energy increase in the room.
I began to notice this same feeling in other areas of fundraising and well. Most individual donors, corporate donors, private foundations and others, all tend to feel better when they know that they are not the only significant donor, and that if others are donating, it must be a good organization. Now, this can be a challenge for smaller, start-up charities as they strive to grow their donor base, but the idea still holds that donors, or prospective donors feel much better about their contribution if they know others have donated. If your meeting with a donor does not feel comfortable, or that there might be a little resistance, as has happened to me on occasion, then it might help to explore it so that you can react accordingly, as I did. You might find out that it is true, “Donors Like Company.”
Photo by Athena Sandrini (www.pexels.com)