![Glass jar with coins set with heart model for concept of giving capacity. [Donors Will Not Give to Their Capacity Unless You Deal With This One Thing]](https://veritusgroup.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AdobeStock_389230897-scaled.jpeg "Donors Will Not Give to Their Capacity Unless You Deal With These Two Issues")
There is a main reason your donor will not give to their capacity, and it seems that folks are struggling to implement a solution to this problem. Which is why I keep talking about it – see my blog from September of last year.
I’m bringing this back up again because in the time since I wrote that blog in September, no less than 8 organization leaders have asked me some form of this same question:
“How do I get a donor to give to their capacity?”
It’s an interesting question and one that takes many forms. Like “I know that DONOR NAME is giving over $ 1 million to X org, but she is only giving us $10,000. Why?” Jeff and I hear this a lot – a donor gives far more to many other organizations than she does to your organization.
And then I dig into the particulars of the situation, and I always find two things that are part of the relationship dynamic with the “underperforming” donor:
1. There is a lack of specific information on the donor’s passions and interests.
This first point always amazes Jeff and me. Over the last 19 years of existence of the Veritus Group, we have repeatedly told our clients and the non-profit sector that the strategic key to major gift fundraising is the identification and meaningful service toward the passions and interests of donors.
Think about it this way…
You go into a store you love in your area and your specific interest is the wonderful assortment of shoes they sell. But every time – I mean EVERY time you go in, each salesperson who greets you takes you over to the housewares and bedding department to show you the “greatest products at the most unbelievable prices.” And the salesperson does this even though you said your ONLY interest is shoes. How are you feeling about that store? It will not be long before you just do not go there anymore.
So, using the logic of the store and shoes example above, you need to see where you are doing this with your donors. And then you must change your approach so that your focus is on the donor’s passions and interests. This is THE key to relating properly to the donor and moving them down the path to capacity giving.
2. There is inadequate information in proposals on how the donor can serve their passions and interests by giving a substantially larger gift.
Think about this – behind that $1 million dollar gift your donor (who is giving you $5,000 a year) gave to that other organization is a proposal and ask that has been perfectly tailored to the passions and interests of the donor. THAT, my friend, is why it happens.
And I mean tailored. No general organizational boilerplate copy. No. Specific. To the donor and their passions and interests.
It describes the problem in human and emotional terms in a compelling way that, when the donor reads it, it goes to the core of what they care about. In fact, it goes so deeply to the core of the donor that they are driven to DO something about the problem that has been presented to them. And do it now. And in a BIG way.
None of this is rocket science, but it requires collaboration, strategy, and intention. If you present me with what I want, I will likely do it to the best of my ability. And by “want” I mean that deep longing – that urge – that wish and drive that does not go away – the need to make a difference. That want.
Pay attention to what I am saying here as you construct your next approach to that donor who is not giving to your organization at their capacity. Believe me, follow the principles stated here and you will see a difference. We see it happening every week which is why I am confident in asking you to do it as well.
Richard
i work at a state university. We have over 2000 individual funds of various kinds. of those funds, we provide almost $3mil in scholarships to students annually. when we allow donors to become too specific, scholarships can go un-awarded. also, the more specific requirements there are, the more difficult it is to steward that donor as an individual because we have 1500 individuals who want that same stewardship. how can we effectively manage so many individual funds and individuals donors?
Hi Sheila, this is a great question! This would be a great opportunity to tier these donors and funds, and potentially look at how a mid-level program may support your stewardship efforts. We have a white paper on tiering that you can find here: https://veritusgroup.net/whitepapers/tiering-donors-to-create-focused-caseloads/
The part I get stuck on is “to their capacity”. Through the multiple wealth analysis platforms my organization uses including Blackbaud and iWave, ‘capacity’ is inconsistent and sometimes, feels very arbitrary. (i.e. donor lives in a $1.2MM home so they can definitely give $50K). We don’t know their debts, for example. How do you get a donor to come to the same understanding of their capacity that we hope to get them to? Thanks to Veritus, I know what questions to ask to learn more about a donor’s philanthropic goals, but if they still see themselves as a $10K donor, for example, but all signs point to their capacity at $100K+… how can you have THAT conversation?
The way you do it, Nicole, is to present them with a project that (a) perfectly matches their passions and interests, and (b) have the ask be at the higher level, in your case $100k+. Donors think of themselves as a $10k donor when what we ask them to fund is not as aligned as it could be to their passions and interests and the ask is $10k. We, essentially, have “trained” the donor to be the $10k donor.
Hi Nicole – that’s a great question and the second point in this blog post is really a great place for focus for that. Ultimately, there are a few points to consider here. First, as you learn more about your donor’s philanthropic goals, don’t forget to ask about their bigger goals beyond just your organization. They may have capacity for $100K, but only ever be $10K because their greatest passion is a completely different area. And that’s okay! Honoring that is an important part of building trust and partnership with your donors. If your organization is a main passion, then consider asking if they’ll meet to talk about some big dreams you have that they might be interested in partnering on. Starting dreaming with them and bring them into the vision. That’s the piece that takes the conversations about learning their passions and interests to another level, because you are aligning them to opportunities that have great significance so they can visualize what they could accomplish with your organization.