By Kim H. Erskine, Philanthropic Advisor, University of Oxford’s North American Offices

Figuring out why people give is a key factor in maximizing the gift a donor will give to your organization. You can build lasting relationships by understanding donor’s motives, needs and expectations. Different types of gifts and ways of giving will appeal to donors who are motivated in different ways. If you wish to adopt a donor centered philanthropy program, your job is to try to determine what motivates your prospects.

Over the years I have come across seven basic motivations for giving. Rarely do donors have only one reason they give to an organization, and the closer you come to figuring out all the reasons that apply to your prospects the more you can tailor your cultivation, your ask and your stewardship.

The seven motivations for giving are:

Altruism You, the mission of your organization or your organization itself resonates with the donor’s sense of making the world a better place

Appreciation Your organization has affected the donor’s life in a positive manner, or the donor is proud of the work you do

Competition The donor is interested in “keeping up with the Jones” – Philanthropy style. They want their names prominently situated on your donor list, or want their class to raise more money than last year’s class

Devotion Religion and religious belief highly influence the donor’s giving strategies.

Guilt Your organization can help relieve the donor’s feelings of remorse or responsibility for negative circumstances which have befallen them or others

Self interests Selp with tax circumstances, or advancing the donor’s professional or social life

Tradition The donor has a habit of giving to organizations who have systematically asked them over a period of time, or it is traditional in their family to give to the organization

In order to create a philanthropy program to take advantage of these motivators you need to look at your prospects and current donors and ascertain which factor or factors motivate them. Clues can be found in their giving history to your organization or to other organizations; seeing where, and if, their name appears; and seeing if and how often they appear in print.

However, the most important key to being donor centered is to know your prospects personally. Talk to them, get to know them, find out who they turn to for personal, professional and financial advice. When you know them better, developing a strategy will be much easier.

Questions or comments:

• Are there other reasons you have seen that motivate donors?

• Who are the easiest to work with, who are the most difficult, and why?

• What strategies have you developed to work with certain types of people?

• What happens in a family with conflicting motivations?

• Why is stewardship/follow-up important to each of these people? How can you tailor stewardship to each of the different motivating factors?

Jump in the conversation!

tutormentor - Aug 23, 2006 3:26 pm (#1 Total: 6)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection

Who does the asking influences who does the giving

I think the seven reasons people give are good. However, I would encourage you to also reflect on who does the asking and how this influences the giving.  For instance, if my dad was Bill Gates, I suspect my success at getting large grants or donations would be pretty good.  Or if I was a CEO of a company, my chances of getting donations from my peers, my customers, or my suppliers, might be good.

However, if I'm like most people and was not born with a silver spoon or to a well connected family, or have not risen to the top of the influence pyramid, it's a lot more difficult competing for donations.

What do others think?

lmack - Aug 24, 2006 1:28 pm (#2 Total: 6)

Giving is a way for people to act on their values

I like these seven motivations, but think they miss the point that donors give as a way to act on their values (which sort of fits into number 2--appreciation).  I give to environmental groups because writing a check to them gives me a way to fight for something--a healthy enviroment--I think is important.  I'm not just proud of the work of The Nature Conservancy, I truly value it for the role it plays in protecting wild places, which is something close to my heart.

Mal Warwick - Aug 24, 2006 6:05 pm (#3 Total: 6)
Author, consultant, public speaker

Interesting take, but . . .

I've been raising money professionally for nearly 30 years now, so I've given this question a fair amount of thought. Like most typologies, this one oversimplifies. Truth to tell, the overwhelming majority of Americans voluntarily contribute money to the nonprofit sector each year, and their reasons for doing so can be as varied as their personalities and circumstances. When I grappled with this question in my book, "How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters," I wrote about "23 reasons why people respond to fundraising appeals." I'd be happy to email a copy of the article to anyone reading this. Just email me at mal@malwarwick.com.

Kim Erskine - Aug 28, 2006 7:35 am (#4 Total: 6)
Oxford University - North American Office

Mal,

23 reasons, wow. Do they fit into the very broad categories I have listed above or shall we add some more? This forum is a great place to put out one idea and have others add their great knowledge and insight as well.

I couldn't agree more that each individual donor is just that, an individual. That is also one of the best things about working in this field, every prospect, donor and gift is different. This concept may, however, be a bit daunting to individuals out there who don't have the experience we do, or whose primary responsibility is not fundraising, which is a common situation for many that work in very small organizations. By using some tools to help identify what may motivate a donor, these people may find the joy in the individual relationships brought about by helping prospects become philanthropists.

It would be great to hear of your experiences with this as well.

Something for everyone to think about:

In your opinion, do donor motivations change according to the way that they are asked, i.e. in person or by mail?

Thanks.

Mal Warwick - Aug 28, 2006 8:28 am (#5 Total: 6)
Author, consultant, public speaker

I'm attaching the article I mentioned.

Since I've received dozens of requests since my post, I've decided to attach the article. Chances are it will help to answer the questions you've posed, Kim.

The short response, though, is this: yes, donor motivation varies with the manner of asking, with other circumstances (natural disaster or calm reflection, for example), and with the amount of money involved. The reasons people give are as varied as humanity itself. Your typology is useful as a framework, but as a practical matter it wouldn't help me get to the bottom of the motives of any particular individual I might be soliciting.

One more thing: you refer to "helping prospects become philanthropists," implying that all "charitable giving" constitutes philanthropy, I wish that were so. Unfortunately, there are enormous sums of money contributed to causes and institutions every year that, in my opinion, have little or nothing to do with philanthropy ("the love of humankind"). Far too much giving benefits the giver more than humanity.

Attachments:

23 reasons why people respond.doc (160 KB)

 I agree that the person who asks for a gift is very important.  Donors feel more comfortable giving to people and organizations they know.  It is key to a successful gift to match the right person with the prospect.  And yes, if you are very wealthy you tend to have wealthy friends, peers, or business associates who can give at a high level.  However, you can also be very successful at competing for gifts if you have a clear need, a clear mission, and match the motivation of prospects you've identified with the parts of your program which are most appropriate.  Many times people affected by the programs are the most appropriate and successful fund-raisers.

Peers can be great askers, but if they don't understand the motivation of the donor they won't maximize the gift.  For example, one of your board members approaches a good friend of theirs to ask for support of your organization.  The ask goes something like this…

"Pam, as a friend and someone that cares deeply about heart disease, I hope you will consider joining me in supporting the Hearts Together program with a gift of $2,500.  Your gift will put us over the top of our annual fundraising goal, and put us in the top ranks of Heart organizations not only in the city but in our region as well." 

It is clear from this "ask" that the asker is appealing to the competitive side of the prospect.  However without knowing what motivates Pam, and by using an approach that is comfortable to them, they might not get the answer they were hoping for. 

If Pam were motivated by altruism alone her response may be “That would be great for the organization to make that level of recognition.  I will make a gift of $100 because I really do appreciate the work that Hearts Together is doing for heart disease within our community and in the world.  Good luck making your goal."

A better approach to Pam may have been "Pam, as a friend and someone that I know cares deeply about heart disease; I hope you will consider joining me in supporting the Hearts Together program with a gift of $2,500.  In the past year this program has provided support for 6 families of heart transplant patients, enabled 5 children with various heart diseases to attend the national summer camp, as well as providing resources for many local and national programs.  A gift of this size would …" and from here the volunteer would go on to outline what a gift at this level would provide."

This is a very simplified example, but I think it shows the significance of knowing the prospect, or at the very least having some ideas of what motivates the prospect’s giving.  It also shows the importance of training your volunteers or your staff so that they have all the tools they need to feel comfortable making the asks.