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📍What we're talking about this issue: 
5 gifts you can give your donors, and deepen meaning... starting now

Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash

Dear defender of good,

Back in May we talked about the five unsung gifts your donors give you, that you might not be acknowledging, but should. (Missed it? Read here.)

Today I want to turn that around for you, to get you thinking about some of the gifts you can give your donors that go deeper than mission, and increase meaning... 

5 gifts your nonprofit can give your donors 
(And increase meaning, starting now)

✍️ By Lisa Sargent
Fundraising copywriter

July 6, 2024

You’ve heard it before. Every fundraiser has.
 
That framing of philanthropy as “begging” – as somehow harassing or hounding people to give.
 
And that’s disturbing, to me.
 
Because some of the best results I see are when we honor and address the true gifts nonprofits like yours can give to donors – in every fundraising or stewardship piece you send.
 
Because generosity is beautiful. And being part of something bigger than yourself is not begging.

So let’s have a look at five of those 
gifts your nonprofit can give to donors: 

Gift #1: The chance to make a difference

When you send a fundraising appeal – whether by direct mail, email, or an ask on social media – your job is to put forth a problem people can solve, by supporting your work.
 
Meaning: you are not begging. You’re giving people the chance to make a difference in the world.
 
Example - For a nonprofit that helps children who’ve been abused and are in need of adoptive or foster homes, we helped link gifts to Christmas Giving Boxes filled with various ways supporters could help:
 

... You can place the Love of a New Family in your Christmas Giving Box for Joey, with your donation of $XX this holiday.

Tip - Always be thinking of how to link problem to solution, in your appeals... and in your stewardship pieces, connect your donor’s generosity to those solutions and stories, to emphasize the difference they make.

Gift #2: The chance to participate

Participation is not a solo sport. 

In fact the etymology of participate stems from participare, which means – in part – to share, or share in. Participate implies joining, belonging, and being a part.

Can you, in your donor communications, show donors how they’re part of a community of caring, like-minded people?

Because right now, there is much we can do, together...

Can you show them how, in giving, their gifts will join with those of others, to help even more?
 

You. Me. All of us. Together we are in exactly the right place, right now, to make a difference. To change tomorrow. 

Can you connect their hearts to the hardworking hands of programs staff, community partners, and beneficiaries themselves?

Your dedicated donation today will not only keep the team working no matter what the numbers say, you’ll expand that circle of care so people who are suffering and alone, are never left behind. 

The answer is Yes: Yes, you can.  

And – true story – when you get it right, your donors will ask about people they’ve made donations to help – sometimes years later.

Gift #3: The gift of consistency.

When I talk about the gift of consistency, what I mean is, if you’re going to send a supporter newsletter four times each year, then do that... each year, every year.
 
If you have an established (consistent) brand that’s working, tread carefully around changing it. (And if you don’t own the Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand by Jeff Brooks, read it first. Especially Chapter 3, which talks about the negative revenue impact from all-too-common rebranding practices.) 

This isn’t to say you should lock yourself into same-old/same-old.
 
But the world is unpredictable and chaotic enough: you have the chance, through your donor communications and fundraising appeals, to build anticipation, recognition, and trust for your supporters by being the organization that shows up and stays consistent.

Gift #4: The gift of deeper understanding

No one wants to be “educated” into giving – or jargoned into generosity.
 
Deeper knowledge and understanding, though?
 
Those gifts can transform your supporters into advocates, and occasional givers into true believers.

In appeals, we’ve talked about...
>>> rare blood-clotting disorders
>>> special clips for atrial fibrillation
>>> how childhood cancers are staged
>>> the difference between chronic and acute malnutrition

That’s for starters.
 
The point is, when you join details like these to the story of a beneficiary, to the story of the work you do, you help your supporters to become insiders. 

And insiders like to share what they’ve discovered, because it helps them to tell a better story in return – even if it never goes beyond their own internal story of why they give.

Here's how I handled the way childhood cancers are staged, to give donors a deeper understanding and greater sense of urgency:
 

You can do the same, and help your donors become insiders, the next time you write, too. 

Try going a bit deeper in the detail you share. Even just a paragraph or two, to give donors that gift of deeper understanding. 

Gift #5: The chance to be remembered

The chance to be remembered doesn’t have to be reserved for your legacy communications. (Side note: make sure you include the chance to be remembered in your legacy communications.)
 
When someone gives, even if it’s $50 to an appeal, one time, their generosity... somehow, somewhere... will touch the life of another – a life that will always remember the kindness they were shown.
 
And you need to be sharing that chance to be remembered as part of the remarkable gifts your nonprofit gives. For example:
 

You did all this for Stephen, who you’ll never meet. Yet Stephen will never forget you. You believed in him when no one else did.

That’s a magical thing, to know someone thinks of you out there in the world:

>> To know even one life breathed easier, because you cared

>> To know program staff give thanks for donations and the compassionate people who send them, each week at meetings

>> To know that in giving, you are seen for qualities you might never reflect on yourself: courage, generosity, kindness, love

And I don’t know about you, but this hardly sounds like begging to me.
 
So please, for me, pause for a minute right now as you read this, and think about all the gifts your nonprofit can give to your donors, in giving them the chance to be generous, to be loved, and to change the world.
 
They deserve to know that they are enough, and that their donations reach far beyond a transaction, because it’s true – and you deserve to know with all your heart that you are enough... and that asking is not begging.
 
Sometime, if you’re up for it, we’ll go deeper into the gifts your nonprofit can give donors – for today, start with these five, and let me know if they help you.
 
Thanks for making the world a better place -- and thanks for being a Loyalty Letter subscriber. I'll see you in mid-July. 

Until then, may your words work always for good.

Lisa ✍️

PS. Over on LinkedIn, I recently did a post on how long your fundraising letters should be... you can check that out here (and give me a follow if you like it). Also, for all back issues of the Loyalty Letter relaunch, the fabulous folks at AWeber include a Newsletter Hub I can share with you. Thx! :-) 

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