relationship fundraising australia

4. Educate your donors

It is vital to educate your donors about your organisation’s mission and values. The more donors understand who you are and what you stand for, the more loyal they will be. But there is a time, place and way to do this.

Often we see organisations trying to educate people from the start and they do this by using statistics. The problem with this is that generally people do not make a decision to support an organisation based on statistics. They make their decision about how powerful is the need of those being helped. And the best way of showing this is through stories and not numbers. After all we use the emotional part of the brain to make our buying decisions.

This is not to say we shouldn’t educate people. From an early age we learn through stories. As we mature and grow up we learn through more detailed information. However we also know learning works best when it is made interesting and not boring.

We need to be prepared to take people on a journey. At the start our aim should be to convince people to support you to meet the needs of those you help. As they get to know you, then you give them information, but always in an interesting way.

This information can then be used to help the donor to rationalise their support of an organisation. It can also be used to share with others.

Want to know more about how to create a sense of urgency for your fundraising compaigns? Contact us now