Choice: A Valuable Fundraising Theme

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For many years, various organizations, especially faith-based ones, relied on a sense of obligation in their fundraising efforts. Gifts were and still are asked for using obligation-based wording. 

This kind of approach and messaging is not working anymore. People don't generally like obligations. Sometimes, obligations are resented.  There is far less of a sense of satisfaction in fulfilling our obligations than in the choice we are able to make. In tougher economic times, these feelings are only exacerbated.

A sense of choice makes your donors and potential donors feel empowered. It is donor choice and stunning generosity, not any perceived obligation that moves missions forward to the tune of the $298.42 billion given away in the United States in 2011, totals according to the GivingUSA Foundation. Donors who give to a chosen cause they feel personal passion for often report much higher satisfaction levels from their giving than another person giving out of a sense of obligation.

Does your current fundraising message imply obligation, or does it demonstrate respect for donor choice?

Even with the focus on donor choice, your fundraising case statement still must:

• Be clear and concise
• Offer an easy to follow explanation of how funds will be used 
• Create a sense of urgency to help your donor make the choice to give now 

 

Volunteering: A Family Affair

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In their 2011 Heart of the Donor study, Russ Reid shared study results that indicate a strong relationship between volunteering by parents and volunteering by their children once they reach adulthood. 

Among current adults whose parents frequently volunteered when they were growing up, 49 percent had volunteered with a nonprofit in the past year. A total of 31 percent of adults whose parents were occasional volunteers are currently actively working with nonprofits. Among adults who never observed volunteering by their parents, only 20 percent are active with nonprofits. 

These results further reinforce the stunning impact of the immediate family for children across their lifetimes. I wonder whether collective family volunteering growing might make these results even higher for today's adults?

At one area volunteer fire department, a family of four signs up every year for shifts at the local grocery store for the MDA Fill the Boot campaign. The children have often helped present the results check during the local Labor Day Telethon. Those great kids and their model parents often talk excitedly about this experience throughout the year. Those kids are going to make amazing adult volunteers. 

Do you have a favorite memory from growing up of a family volunteer project? 

Does your family currently volunteer together?

If you have children and currently volunteer, what do you share with your kids about your commitment?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what is your nonprofit doing to encourage family volunteering?