Benefits-Based Fundraising

Picture this.  Someone you care about is getting married or having a baby—and they tell you where they’ve registered.  As someone who cares, you go to the registration site…and you look for the least expensive thing that is still on the list.  It’s not that you are cheap, or you think that the person you do care about isn’t worthy—it’s just that we all (or mostly all) seem hard-wired to look for a deal.  And a deal it is—the person who registered wants this item;  you are being a good caring person by giving it.  Those who don’t register, I suspect, often get higher priced, if not more wanted, gifts (or cash).

Organizations who fundraise by offering benefits—give this and you get that—have the same issues.  People will look at the benefits, and give the lowest amount that gives them (most of) what they want.  Little thought is given to what would benefit the organization—that’s not part of the equation.  They are asked to chose a gift that will benefit them. 

I think that’s nuts.  Fundraising is all about building relationships to help support the work you do.  It’s not about providing the giver with a gift; it is about being about to serve your clients or your cause.

Performing arts organizations, in particular, focus on benefits based fundraising—and as a result too many of them continually are deficient fundraising. 

Some organizations put a twist on this model.  The benefit is to the client.  That’s not unusual—we raise money so we can provide the services and programs our clients need.  But here, it is a different kind of client benefit.  It is really specific.  As in, “Your gift of $30 will buy…..” And so why should I give more if a mere $30 gets the client something they need?  Indeed, all studies of appeals that use this kind of approach show clearly that the size of gifts goes down and stays down.

The benefits we should be offering our donors is the ability to impact something that is important to them.  While transactional fundraising works, building relationships works so much better.

Think about it.  If you care about the work an organization does, would you rather support it by purchasing something, especially is that something is for yourself, or for making a difference in someone’s life?  Would you be more excited by giving money for something that will narrowly assist one or a few people, or would you prefer to support the bigger picture?

True, some restricted gifts can do amazing things.  Unrestricted gifts, and those not attached to specific benefits, allow the organization to take advantage of opportunities that might pop up as well as run the organization in the most effective way possible.

If you feel you must give your donor a benefit in order to persuade them to give, maybe you need to consider what benefits you provide to your clients and your cause.  And if, as in the case of many arts organizations, your clients ARE your donors, then I submit you might give them the benefit of believing that they honestly care about what you provide, and would happily support your work without needing any icing on the cake.