In Time for GivingTuesday: How to ‘Light Up’ the Brain for Generosity

As fundraisers head into giving season, they’re often thinking about tactics to sway donors, but not necessarily the science underlying a donor’s decision-making. With GivingTuesday serving as the kickoff for many year-end drives, experts in neuroscience and psychology say it’s important to appeal to donors in ways that take advantage of what researchers understand about the kinds of messages that appeal to donors and what drives their decision-making — especially given the uncertainty of the times.

For messaging that will activate the brain in the right places, appeal to donors’ values and identity, says Cherian Koshy, a longtime fundraiser and author of the forthcoming book Neurogiving: The Science of Donor Decision Making.

“Giving really lights up the ‘Is this for me?’ button, the ‘Is this who I am?’ part of the brain,” Koshy says. “Purchases are about, ‘Can I afford this?’ or ‘Do I want this?’ Giving is really, ‘Does this reflect my values? Do I see myself in this story? Do I trust these people?’”

With this in mind, here are some key themes that fundraisers can think about as they reach out to donors for GivingTuesday or year-end.

Get specific

To help donors easily understand if the story the nonprofit is telling is for them, Koshy suggests keeping things simple.

“We tend to think that if we give donors a lot of different options that we’re doing them a favor,” Koshy says. “But in today’s day and age, donors are overwhelmed by all the things that are coming at them. The best thing that we can do for donors is actually to give them a very clean, clear course of action.”

For something like GivingTuesday, the practice of using one specific project to focus a donor’s energy is helpful. For example, the Presbyterian Historical Society runs a small GivingTuesday campaign each year that aims to raise $10,000 to provide grants that allow four fellows to travel to the society and access it’s resources. The targeted campaign resonates with donors who want to help the researchers and authors use the society’s resources, says Luci Duckson-Bramble, the society’s development director.

In last year’s GivingTuesday drive, the society got a $5,000 gift from a donor, allowing it to exceed its goal by 50 percent. The donor had given $100 in previous years but had told Duckson-Bramble she “really wanted to support” the GivingTuesday project.

Create community

Today’s economic uncertainty is another important factor that many donors are contending with. After a historically long government shutdown and “recession-like levels” of layoffs, many are worrying about the future. This is bad for giving.

“The science is super clear,” Koshy says. “When people are stressed, they are less generous.”

Koshy notes Americans’ level of stress has increased in the past decades, and simultaneously, the number of people who participate in philanthropic giving has decreased. This is a societal problem that requires a societal answer that reduces isolation and increases community engagement. However, nonprofits can try to ameliorate these effects on their donors by helping increase the feeling of community among their supporters.

“When they feel less of that isolation, they are in community with one another, they feel connection to the cause, they feel a connection to one another,” Koshy says. “Then they are more generous, they spend time volunteering, and they give.”

Bringing people together for community is a key theme that organizations use to push their GivingTuesday and year-end initiatives. In Hancock, Mich., the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation brings together dozens of nonprofits for a GivingTuesday campaign. And while much of it is online, on the actual day, many get together in what used to be the hub of the community to embrace their community, says Michael H. Babcock, CSCHF’s donor relations director.

“So many communities across the country have these malls that are basically empty or half empty; ours is one of them,” he says. “It’s a really powerful community-building place — it used to be. Now we get together with these nonprofits and turn it back into that, bring that energy back into a community space that could use it.”

Donors and nonprofits mingle and come together, sharing stories and talking, a tradition the organization has used in the past few years and will continue this year.

Bring joy

Emphasizing playfulness, love, and joy can help break through the stress donors may be feeling this time of year says Jen Shang, director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. Shang notes that infusing messaging this time of year with the sentiments associated with a playful love language can help.

 “In a time of stress and distress, when their ordinary day would be filled with mundane activities, think about things that could potentially brighten their days up,” says Shang whose research includes donor psychology and donor love languages. “Something that is heartwarming but playful.”

While nonprofits working on serious and often gut-wrenching issues may initially think it’s hard to show joy, Shang says it is both possible and important.

“Some of the most joyful fundraising communications that I’ve seen are from children’s hospices,” Shang says. “They try to make the last days of the child to be the most joyful days; the days of the parents to be the most joyful time. When joy is seen in those situations, it makes an impression on people.”

She says being able to talk about the joy the organization can bring in hard situations is often what stressed people are able to key in on and appreciate.

“When you present yourself as that positive sparkle, then as long as you can put a smile on people’s face, that is a positive wave of goodness that you’ve created in someone’s life, however small that wave is,” Shang says. “Even if they don’t give in that particular situation, they remember the taste of your charity to be one that is fun and lighthearted.”

Build relationships

Fundraisers have long understood the value of thanking their donors. But they may not fully understand its impact. Thank you’s can act as a relief for stress at a challenging time of year Shang says.

“Just become very cognizant of thanking people in every small act of kindness that they have shown towards the organization,” Shang says.  “It’s a very nice way to ride the kindness tide in this rather stressful time instead of fighting the stress tide.”

Thanks are just the beginning, though, says Shang, who adds it’s important to not let donors who come in during GivingTuesday or year-end campaigns fall away.

“It’s very, very important for people to spend time to think about how to build actual long-term human relationships with their donors, despite how high the attrition rate might be for people recruited for first-time gift,” Shang says.

Duckson-Bramble with the historical society notes that she spends a lot of time thanking donors with handwritten notes and phone calls, to the point that they know they can reach out to her. She’s spoken to several donors already this year, with mixed results. Some have said other causes they care deeply about have faced cuts and they’re going to give less to the society. “But then I’ve had other people who have said, ‘I’ll write another check because I want you to get to your goal’ or ‘What do you need?’” she says. “I spend a lot of time talking to people, so I’m always amazed at what people are willing to do to support us.”