Gift officers put tremendous time and energy into identifying the best possible gift ask amounts for each of the donors they engage. They also focus a great deal of attention on identifying the area or purpose of the proposed gift. In other words, gift officers spend a lot of time prescribing gifts to donors.
“We are asking you to consider a gift of $___________ to help with ______________program.”
And, while gift prescription is important to increase giving expectations, describing the impact of the potential gift to donors should always come first.
How can we more effectively describe a potential gift’s impact to the prospective donor? A good place to start is by exploring questions like the following with the donor:
- How, specifically, will the lives of those we serve be improved after this gift is made?
- How, specifically, will this gift allow our institution to serve more?
- What will happen to those we serve (or could serve) if this gift is not made?
- How will our community, our region, or our world be better off after this gift is made?
- As the donor, imagine how you feel in the years to come knowing you helped make this solution possible.
If you want the donor to respond enthusiastically to the prescription, a good first step is to artfully describe the vision for how and why their generosity will matter.
This article was originally posted on Jason’s Blog in August 2022. To read more, visit www.jasonmcneal.com.
