- Your donor database will always have more inaccurate or missing data than you think is acceptable. You can still raise more money.
- Your institution’s brand and messaging could always be more concise, clear, and compelling. You can still raise more money.
- Your case for support does not need to be completed for you to contact donors. You can still raise more money.
- Your annual giving and planned giving programs do not need huge investments in creative design to be effective. You can still raise more money.
- Your major giving program will not stop producing because in-person visits are being curtailed by the pandemic. You can still raise more money.
- Your understanding of your major gift donors’ capacity will never be as transparently clear as you would like. You can still raise more money.
- Your focus on sharing data and numbers in an effort to “convince” prospective donors to give will not work. You can still raise more money.
Donors give because they come to believe in the goodness of your mission to make the world a better place. They give because they develop an authentic trust in your leadership. And they give because someone influential to them personally invites their deeper involvement.
Healthy adult humans give because we have a deep-seated need to help others. Tap into that motivating factor – with trust, authenticity, and influence – and you will raise more money.
When we fail to remind ourselves of these truths, we can easily fill our time with interesting but debilitating distractions.
Originally posted November 2020 on www.jasonmcneal.com
