I run a 501c3 non-profit. Our mission is getting underprivileged and/or handicapped children as well as adults into the outdoors for adventure. Folks that ordinarily are housebound or otherwise do not get outside.
Monday was Colorado Gives Day. I posted a video clip about our organization online and asked for donations. At least 400 of the online people know me personally and saw the post.
As is the case with most of our fundraising efforts, it was a very small percentage of people who donated, including some folks who said of course I will! It is very deflating.
We are in dire need for funding to keep our 10-year-old non-profit going and helping folks.
So today I asked a friend a frank question. We are very close and he was glad to answer it so there was no issue in me being so blunt. I asked “since you are worth a lot of money what kept you from just hitting the donate button for $50. We are close friends of over 50 years, you know I’ve put my heart and soul into my non-profit so what stopped you?”
This particular person said “well I was pretty busy when I saw that and I just kind of forgot.” As of today he is still forgetting.
I doubt all those 400 or more people were pretty busy when they saw it and just kind of forgot.
I asked someone else who did donate what he thought about how many people don’t. He thinks that people are so accustomed to just ignoring all the donation requests they get that they just automatically don’t contribute no matter how close that person is to them or what the cause is.
I guess I would feel foolish contributing to “adventures” when I could contribute to animals and people in more dire straits. Not that your cause isn’t worthy. Does that answer the question?
These people that didn’t give to your cause-do you know if they gave to other causes? Can you tell them (and us) why they should give to your cause and not others, especially in these days of increased askings and decreased earnings?
Well our mission is getting kids, handicapped and/or in bad home situations etc..into the outdoors. An adventure might be a ride in the woods in one of our adaptive wheelchair. Or see what a forest looks like in real life.
That aside, my post was about why does someone you are very close to who has plenty of money and knows what amazing stuff you are doing (their words) ignore your pleas? I’m sure there are lots of reasons, just looking for what they are.
It might help to remember that most people get a lot of solicitations, including a lot from people they know personally. People get burned out, and you have to be selective about which appeals you respond to, or you would be giving money away constantly. Also, giving to one charity gives you the same feeling of well-being that giving to a dozen of them would, so diminishing returns set in pretty rapidly.
That said, I don’t think there’s any good excuse for saying you’ll donate and then not doing it. It’s fine to ignore a social-media request (practically speaking, everybody has to ignore most requests, even if they’re rich), but if you promise to do something, you should follow through.
The biggest obstacle to giving to charities, in people’s minds, IMHO, is a lack of direct knowledge of how their money is benefiting. If I give money to a homeless beggar on the street, I know there’s direct benefit to him. But when I give money to a charity, it’s like putting money into a black hole. Where did that money go and where was it spent on? The dopamine or gratification one gets is kind of disconnected there, for many people’s minds. Sure, it may have gone towards good, but there is no direct feedback or link back to the donor’s mind.
On top of that, some charities make people feel skeevy about their overheads, and some charity directors are so bling-bling that they make you think, “Is my money actually going to buy this director a 5-bedroom house and three Mercedes?”
That’s what I was going to say. I get hit up repeatedly all the damn time by everyone to either donate or buy their overpriced thing as a fund raiser.
My high school, my undergrad university, my grad university. My church. My boys’ scout troop. Other scout troops. The scout district/council. The local SPCA. Those damn sick dog commercials with Sarah McLachlan. The cancer kids at St. Jude. The local food bank. Veterans aid groups. Every medical issue under the sun. Goodwill. Salvation Army. Scottish Rite Hospital for disabled children. PBS. Beggars on the street corners. And I’m sure I’m missing plenty of examples that just aren’t popping immediately to mind right now.
After a while you sort of get a thick skin and just sort of choose if, when, and where you feel like it, because everyone wants your money and thinks their charity or non-profit’s mission is the best and most important one.
I’m a non-profit development professional (grants, not fundraising.)
I’m not sure what kind of budget you’re working with. Exactly how advanced is your donor strategy? Do you have regular appeals? Is there a Gala? Do you have a donor database?
As mentioned upthread, donors tend to like it when you give them something concrete. “$50 will buy meals and insect repellent (or whatever) for X kids.” We do this all the time. You have to put the stories forward. Donors love stories.
I don’t solicit donations from friends and family for my organization, because they aren’t really the target funder base (except Gala. I will invite them to Gala.) Rather than wondering why some people won’t donate, you have to figure out who would want to donate. Are you hitting up outdoorsman places? Flyers at your local sporting goods or camping store? What does your board of directors look like? Are they connected to a good network for fundraising?
You may have thought all this through better than I ever could. It’s not my job, I just work very closely with people who do that job.
Let me know if you ever need grant-writing advice. I have 15 years of experience there.
If you really just wonder why your one friend won’t donate, I’d nominate compassion fatigue, constant bombardment with similar requests, and their money being invested elsewhere.
Here’s another issue: if you give money to a charity, they immediately turn around and ask for more money—again and again and again and again. Sometimes I wonder if my donation is actually used for anything worthwhile, or if all the money is spent on direct mail solicitations asking for more support.
And at the same time they give your contact info to a bunch of similar organizations, who also all send solicitations for money. Every year I give money to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). But now I get an absolute deluge of mail from related organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club, several monarch butterfly organizations, etc.
I gave money to the local food bank during Covid, and now every food bank in the region constantly asks me for money.
First of all, major kudos on the work that you’re doing! It sounds terrifically worthwhile and I hope it warms your heart and soul that you’re doing so much good.
As for why more don’t contribute, even if they can well afford it, I think the answer is pretty simple. Requests for money in one form or another, whether from charitable organizations, marketers, or just plain scammers, are so frequent and commonplace that it just becomes background noise and most of us just tune it out. There’s also the problem that there are so many worthwhile causes that even a conscientious person willing to help them all would soon go broke. I don’t know what the answer is except to somehow make your organization stand out in some unique way. You’re a competitor in a very, very busy marketplace.
Aside from all that, probably more than 95% of people are selfish assholes – maybe much more – so that’s a factor, too.
If you aren’t familiar with the term “donor fatigue” it’s time to walk a mile in the shoes of the people of the people who support your organization. Particularly at this time of year, people are being bombarded by requests form all types of charities on all sides – email, snail mail, television, bell-ringers in front of stores, at church, and from friends who have volunteered to raise funds for their favorite charity.
One thing you might want to do is look at your fundraising messaging to determine what message works best among your donor base. Do they respond to images of happy children outside or sad adults confined to a tiny apartment? Have you told them how many people your organization has helped over the last ten years? Do they know how low you keep your administrative costs? And finally, is your message being lost by soliciting at a time when literally every other not-for-profit in Colorado is also asking for money?
And remember, only a small percentage of people who are asked will actually respond to any request. Don’t let that discourage you, but do look for ways to expand your outreach and new ways to make contact.
If I’m asked in real life why I don’t donate to a friend’s pet Charity I’d want to say “Well, I give to this, this and this, regularly. This month I’m tapped out”
Say it nice. Then drop it.
Not sure I could, but I’d want to say it. Most likely I’d just give, if a friend. I don’t like to give under duress. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth. That’s not real charity to give like that.
As far as the bombardment of solicitations it really boggles the mind. It’s everywhere.
You are hitting up friends and family for your cause, and that just cannot last. It eventually causes resentment on their part and entitlement on yours. Even if they are giving to other causes this year they may feel that telling you this may cause you to try to convince them that your charity is surely better than other charities. Your best bet is to sincerely thank them for what they have already given, then try other avenues.
You can’t turn on the TV or surf the web without requests for money from all sorts of charities and funds. One can’t donate to all of them. Plus, as previously mentioned, when you do give you keep getting asked to give more and more.
I have 3 charities I give to via payroll deductions. They’re significant amounts but those are the only ones I give to. I completely tune out any other requests for money regardless who it’s from. I Might buy some of the awful popcorn from my nephews Boy Scout troop once a year, but that’s it. My charities are chosen, end of story.
I donate a sizable chunk of my income to charity, as well as doing volunteer work, yet I have to say no to charities on pretty much a daily basis. Were the only two options for my life “help this charity, or be selfish” I would choose the former. But, in the real world, it’s more like helping as many charities as I can afford to, and having to say no to the rest.
As many have said, we are already bombarded by charitable requests.
Also us generous souls often have a specific charity we regularly give to (and don’t want to change.)
As suggested, try to reach out to more than family and friends.
Also make your charity memorable by giving a specific example. (Did your video have a clear example of someone being helped? Perhaps a wheel-bound kid touching a tree in wonder?
Was your video both short and to the point?)
I donate to lifeboats here in the UK (N.B. they are volunteers.)
The reason I picked this charity was an interview with a lifeboatman.
He was standing by a lifeboat with a raging sea behind him.
Interviewer “What’s the worst conditions you’ve seen?”
Lifeboatman “30 foot waves in a gale.”
Interviewer “Would you go out in that?”
Lifeboatman “We always go out.”
I don’t know that this has been hit as directly as I’ll put it, but hitting friends/relatives up for money - for whatever reasons - changes the nature of the relationship. Call me a selfish asshole or whatever, but it does not thrill me when my best friends and closest relatives hit me up for girl scout cookies, candy bars, wrapping paper, whatever.
It isn’t the money. I’ll gladly pick up a meal, or give you cash if you are short. But asking me for $ for a cause that is important to YOU sorta strikes me differently.
I might consider it differently if I told my closest friends of a cause dear to me, said I knew they gave to various charities, and asked if there was anything I could do or say to encourage them to include my charity into their annual giving. And then leave it at that. Personally, if I were on the receiving end of such a conversation, I’d appreciate it better than a request out of the blue.