Hard Times Give Some Prospects the Excuse Not to Give

I've been thinking about this problem with the economy and charitable giving, and I think we need to take a look at the donor's or prospect's view of this situation. It seems to me that in a down economy it's pretty easy to get into a mode (or maybe it's must a mood) of scarcity. On the home front, for example, there's all the defensive budgeting we have to do – tightening the belt and depriving ourselves of those expenditures we'd really like to make in order to meet a decreased income level. And then there are the cuts we experience in our places of work in both budget and programs, the re-prioritizing of objectives and the re-directing of scarce resources to the "things that count." This looks like it's really the wonderfully perfect excuse to also deal with those nonprofits that bug us for contributions but don't give us anything to be excited about.

For example, for several years now, I've been giving to what in other times as been a favorite charity, my alma mater, in central Pennsylvania. Great place. They dealt with me, didn't they? MUST be a great place. And they continue to take hundreds of central PA's rural and small-town, provincial, unfocused kids and make thinking, discerning, creative adults out of them. With what more laudable program could you ply a vision for our world's betterment?

But in tight financial times, my giving there goes down. Why? Well, frankly, it's an excuse to save a little money for something else. Either that new computer I want, or maybe to get involved with a new charity that has captured my imagination more firmly.

Now, I read the bulletin, I get on the website to see what's happening, and I even talk to fellow alumni occasionally. What I find is that even though there's a whale of a lot happening there in terms of the type and quality of education you can get at this institution, the fact is that the way they describe it in the letters that ask for money makes my eyes glaze over and significantly reduces my motivation to keep giving there. The fundraising letters haven't kept pace with the quality and intensity of the educational experience of the kids that go there. That's too bad. This college, overall, and by comparison, does a creditable job of fundraising. But think how much more they could raise with a littl emore attention to making their fundraising letters compenning and motivating, exciting and alive!

Does the economy affect fundraising? I think it does: it allows donors, people like me, and some of the people we think could be our best prospects, the perfect excuse to use the economy as a reason to give elsewhere or to use resources for things they want when our professional fundraisers can't come up with anything that sparks their continued interest, meets their needs, matches their values. Sure the economy affects fundraising….. or does it!? We take on another example later today.