The Question You Must Ask – JP Fundraising

If you were hired to sell a particular brand of car, and somebody walked into your showroom, chances are you wouldn’t spend much time talking about a competing brand. Toyota salespeople make commission on Toyotas, after all, not on Hondas.

I thought the same principle held true when it came to my work as a front-line fundraiser. When I met with a donor, whether in a casual setting or when asking for a gift, I only talked about what was happening at our organization. I didn’t take what was happening in the larger ecosystem into account.

But as I grew more experienced, I realized that I was treating the donor only as a person with the ability to give me money, not a human being with a myriad of interests, passions, and obligations. They might have the ability to give to my organization, but do they have the willingness? Maybe they are already committed to or interested in another nonprofit that has a similar mission.

Just as I’ve never met a person who only bought one brand of car their whole life, I’ve never met a person who only gave to one nonprofit. Sure, they have their favorites, and those favorites will change over the years (just ask any independent school development director what happens to a parent donor once their child graduates).

So go ahead, and ask potential donors the question: “Now tell me, what nonprofits do you support and why?”

The answer will reveal all kinds of things, such as:

Their emotional/historical tie to a cause
How life circumstances have influenced their giving
Their family connections
Whether this is a cause their partner also supports
Connections among the various nonprofits they support, e.g. children, women, animals, environment
Where your nonprofit fits in their hierarchy of interest and giving
How much recognition matters
And, through all of this, their values and passions

So be curious and ask the question that your colleagues are most likely not asking. You might just form the kind of lasting relationship that benefits both your organization and your donor.

Or, you may decide to table this potential donor for now because their current giving priorities don’t align with your organization. That’s not a bad thing—it’s good knowledge to have and save for another time. Because giving priorities, like traffic, ebb and flow, and you want to be ready to catch a ride the next time they are in your neighborhood.

Learn more about being curious in Chapter 8 of my new book “Finding Funding: How to Ask for Money and Get It.”