Future Fundraising Now

8 assumptions you should make about donors

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by

Jeff Brooks
in

  1. Donors make decisions with their hearts. Giving them lots of facts does not win them over.
  2. Donors seek to justify their decisions with facts. A few well-chosen facts can help.
  3. Donors are far more interested in what their gift means for them than what it means for you.
  4. Donors look for “bargains.” Anything that makes it feel like their donation does a lot is more attractive.
  5. You can’t force Donors to do anything. There’s no mind control, no secret that makes them give. You have to win each donation.
  6. Donors love to donate.
  7. Donors are afraid your fundraising might be a scam.
  8. Most Donors like to do what other people are doing.

    Comments

    4 responses to “8 assumptions you should make about donors”

    1. Marjorie Fine Avatar
      Marjorie Fine

      You know the book eat this not that? YOU should do the same thing except focus on write THIS not THAT.
      Thanks.
      Margie

    2. Marjorie Fine Avatar
      Marjorie Fine

      You know the book eat this not that? YOU should do the same thing except focus on write THIS not THAT.
      Thanks.
      Margie

    3. Jeff Brooks Avatar
      Jeff Brooks

      The mission of this blog is not to write your fundraising copy, but to equip you to succeed at writing your fundraising copy.
      I don’t have enough knowledge about your (or anyone’s) org to write fundraising copy I’m willing to stand behind, and I’m very wary of templates that claim to be right, because there’s no way they are right for everyone — or anyone, probably.

    4. Jeff Brooks Avatar
      Jeff Brooks

      The mission of this blog is not to write your fundraising copy, but to equip you to succeed at writing your fundraising copy.
      I don’t have enough knowledge about your (or anyone’s) org to write fundraising copy I’m willing to stand behind, and I’m very wary of templates that claim to be right, because there’s no way they are right for everyone — or anyone, probably.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    Jeff BrooksJeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    About the blogger

    Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.