April 13, 2010 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Baltimore
Like teenagers who wonder if they should fess up before their parents notice the dent in the family car, donors have a lot of questions.
Harvey McKinnon, a fund-raising consultant in Canada, discussed questions that donors often ask of fund raisers — and how fund raisers can respond. Mr. McKinnon has written a book on the topic called The Eleven Questions Every Donor Asks, and the Answers All Donors Crave.
Among the questions:
Why me? Mr. McKinnon described a conversation that his friend Mal Warwick, also a fund-raising consultant, had with a wealthy woman who focused her giving on organizations that help older people. Mr. Warwick was raising money for a youth charity and asked for a $5,000 gift. When the woman replied that she gave to seniors groups, Mr. Warwick asked, “Do you see a contradiction between your support of seniors groups and of a youth charity?” The woman paused and began to talk about the children who cheered up older people at the seniors charities she supported. She soon talked herself into making the gift to Mr. Warwick’s group.
To answer the question, why me, Mr. McKinnon advised fund raisers to learn as much as possible about donors and their interests and help create a personal connection between them and the charity, perhaps by introducing donors to people who benefit from the charity’s programs.
Why are you asking me? Donors don’t like to be asked for money from someone with a title that sounds like they’re a lowly assistant, said Mr. McKinnon. Often charities give staff members titles that sound senior because they command more respect, he said.
Donors also like to hear from people who clearly care about the organization. He described a man who felt his daughter had been able to recover from cancer because of the Make a Wish Foundation. “Can [the girl’s] Dad raise $1-million at every event he goes to?” said Mr. McKinnon. “Yes, he can, and you can understand why he’ll be volunteering for that organization for the rest of his life.”
How much do you want? “People don’t give what you think they should give,” said Mr. McKinnon. “They give what they’re asked.” Mr. McKinnon talked about a friend who works at the Nature Conservancy. She asked a donor for $500,000 and the donor replied, “That’s all you want? Sure.” The fund raiser left feeling terrible because she probably could have received a few more million dollars for her organization.
Mr. McKinnon urged fund raisers to assess their donors’ ability to give and not to ask for too little. He also talked about how people are motivated to give more if their friends are doing so. One woman in the audience described her experience raising money for a campaign of the National Symphony. When donors were sent a letter with a mock up of a plaque, so they could check to see if their names were spelled correctly, some donors called the organization and offered more money so they could join their friends in a higher giving category.
Will I have a say over how you use my gift? “Increasingly, donors want a say,” said Mr. McKinnon. “You have to be careful to respect donors’ wishes without distorting the mission of the organization.” When asked how to respond to someone who says they want all of their money to go to programs and none to administrative costs, Mr. McKinnon advised fund raisers to explain that the charity needs a certain amount for administration to do its work well. Most donors will understand the importance of administration if it is explained to them, he said.
