Donor Trend: More Money from Less People
It’s February, so you might be taking a look at your data from calendar year 2020 and wondering how the pandemic and chaos that came with the year impacted your numbers. If you’re finding that you raised more money, but it came from less donors, you’re not alone.
If you’ve read my other posts, you already know that I embrace this trend and I hope you will, too. Time spent more efficiently on relationships who are truly investing in you!? Sign me up. When the data on charitable giving came out in June, we saw how individual giving continued to soar — it is by far the biggest source of giving. A few things are happening here: there is a lot more innovation around philanthropy, and continually greater access via technology to those ideas. Individuals aren’t limited to the handful of sectors we once considered “charitable.” People realize they can find an entity that really resonates with them.
Phil and I have been aware of the trends noticeable within our firm’s work; one of these is around the time donors spend considering a major or principal gift. We all know and hear the stories (still) of leadership visiting the same donor for 12 years to discuss a large gift before it comes to fruition — but we’re certainly hearing a lot less of it. Donors are more sophisticated now. After all, they are investors, and with the information available to them on how an organization is doing and what it projects to achieve, the outcomes can be imagined. Philanthropists require less time to make decisions because they’re asking the right (tough) questions at the get-go, and they want to see the impact they know that they can generate quickly.
I appreciate and respect that people are picking their lane a bit more and staying in it. It’s been our family’s philanthropy motto for years to choose 2 or 3 places and pool our resources, and when it comes to our firm’s philanthropist clients, we challenge them to do the same. Knowing that nonprofits can do much more with our money when we invest it, rather than spread it a mile-wide and an inch-deep, we feel motivated and inspired to understand what moves us. Likewise, nonprofits want and need to report into us on how our money was spent and steward it well.
If this resonates, let’s prove donors right. They made an investment, and we owe it to them to prove the impact they had. Building a leadership, major or principal gift program involves spending focused time with a defined group of people — meaningfully and deliberately. We want to retain and grow the relationships who showed up this year, even if it was less of them, because by writing a bigger check, they signaled their trust in our people and our vision. As this trend continues, be on the right side of philanthropists’ decision making by demonstrating what you do with the opportunity to receive more. Less people, more money: we can all agree, this can be a much more efficient and personal way to reach our goals!
