Resources needed: Donor psychology for high end fundraising

[DennisD]

Right now I'm working as creative director with a few nonprofits that rely on donations. We haven't cracked 8 figures in donations yet but I think next year is the year for that.

Although we're seeing success I still feel like I'm just a kid fumbling around around in the dark. I'm applying sales tactics and marketing practices for B2C and inventing new techniques that work. But I don't just want it to work. I want to KNOCK IT OUT OF THE F*ckING PARK.

So I want to study "the greats" of sales/copy. But not Gary Halpert or Joe Sugarman. The psychology of a donor is much diffferent than the psychology of a customer. The same templates and profiles don't work because the motivations are completely diffferent. I don't know where to look or where to turn to for more "formal" studies.

TLDR: I want to know what research and resources the people marketing for the Jimmy Fund and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are looking at. High end non-profit resources for those looking to raise between 8-9 figures.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Why not study non-profits who make a killing in donations?

St. Jude has no problem with donations.
ASPCA has no problem with donations...

What are they doing that you aren't?

Study them and you should find some common tactics.

 

[Kak]

Right now I'm working as creative director with a few nonprofits that rely on donations. We haven't cracked 8 figures in donations yet but I think next year is the year for that.

Although we're seeing success I still feel like I'm just a kid fumbling around around in the dark. I'm applying sales tactics and marketing practices for B2C and inventing new techniques that work. But I don't just want it to work. I want to KNOCK IT OUT OF THE f*ckING PARK.

So I want to study "the greats" of sales/copy. But not Gary Halpert or Joe Sugarman. The psychology of a donor is much diffferent than the psychology of a customer. The same templates and profiles don't work because the motivations are completely diffferent. I don't know where to look or where to turn to for more "formal" studies.

TLDR: I want to know what research and resources the people marketing for the Jimmy Fund and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are looking at. High end non-profit resources for those looking to raise between 8-9 figures.

In my experience, major donor events bring the big bucks. It’s a community around a cause that people get excited about. Try a galas and auctions with high dollar stuff donated.

The most prominent nonprofits play squarely into the high society scene.

Live asks even work as well as auctions sometimes. Donors love the competition of who will donate the most. 7 figures is chump change. Some of these events will being one donor stroking a 7 figure check.

 

[DennisD]

study non-profits who make a killing in donations

We've been doing that up until this point. On a functional level it's working - we're making money for our clients. Yet I know there are fundamentals I'm missing and it's driving me crazy.

It's like when I first learned guitar. When I started I could make enjoyable music using what I learned from watching others do it. It's not until I learned the musical scale and a bit of theory that I really started understanding how to fix things when they sounded wrong.

I know for a fact somebody has answered the very basic psych breakdown of the "why do we donate" queestion. I'm just having trouble finding it :-/

Try a galas and auctions with high dollar stuff donated. The most prominent nonprofits play squarely into the high society scene.

Hey man - nice hearing from you.

F*ck yeah. I keep wanting to break into the types of people who donate almost as a status symbol. Right now we're nowhere near that world and you're right - it would be a game changer.

I'll talk with the team on monday and come up with a plan to pivot in this direction.

Do you happen to know how these sorts of events have been affected by covid?

 

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[DennisD]

In my experience, major donor events bring the big bucks. It’s a community around a cause that people get excited about. Try a galas and auctions with high dollar stuff donated.

The most prominent nonprofits play squarely into the high society scene.

Live asks even work as well as auctions sometimes. Donors love the competition of who will donate the most. 7 figures is chump change. Some of these events will being one donor stroking a 7 figure check.

Hey.
Half a year later, but because of this we're dipping our toes into events.

We're charging for tickets and we got a celebrity involved and selling VIP meet-and-greet packages and stuff. Aiming for 5k-10k attendees with some opportunities throughout to raise more throughout the night. It's happening the end of July.

Still haven't found the resources on donor psychology I was looking for so had to keep digging down in the data to develop and create my own.

 

[khadush]

Can we see the website you are using for asking donations?

 

[DennisD]

Can we see the website you are using for asking donations?

I'm not willing to share that at this time.

 

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[DennisD]

In my experience, major donor events bring the big bucks. It’s a community around a cause that people get excited about. Try a galas and auctions with high dollar stuff donated.

The most prominent nonprofits play squarely into the high society scene.

Live asks even work as well as auctions sometimes. Donors love the competition of who will donate the most. 7 figures is chump change. Some of these events will being one donor stroking a 7 figure check.

So here I am with another update just over a year later. Happy new year.

We've got a major event under our belts.

I don't think it's for us. It'll be something we continue here and there, but I don't think it's something that will be a major pillar for us for at least a few years. We just had to bring on too many people to handle the one event it doesn't really make sense for us until we get bigger. Part of this has to do with the major campaign contributors being located outside the US.

However - something the events did was introduce us to new people.

Thanks to the events we landed a few new clients and partners implimenting partners, including some top 5 biggest charities in their spaces.

So overall it was a net gain but not something that's in the cards to partake in (at that level) again.

---

In other news - the reason I started this thread was to find resources. I never really found them so we developed our own resources. tens of thousands of dollars a month spent on split tests, data collection, refining tactics. We have our own systems and practices that WORK.

It's a strange feeling. I'm used to absorbing knowlege my entire life from experts. I've had to go from that to literally writing the book on an area of sales that didn't have much out there.

Good stuff - and good stuff ahead I'm sure.

Best wishes everybody.