Does a Bad Economy Hurt Fundraising? Part 3 of 4

We've been discussing 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 just a mood) of "scarcity," as opposed to a mood of "plenty." Resources seem scarce, rather than plentiful. Whether this is reality or in the mind, mostly depends on the particular donor.

On the home front, for example, there's all the defensive budgeting we have to do to meet our decreased income level – tightening the belt and depriving ourselves of those expenditures we'd really like to make to achieve our various materialistic goals or obtain the kind of gadgets, environment or accoutrements we need to bolster our self image.

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."

Together, on the home front and in the workplace, this begins to look like a wonderfully perfect excuse to also deal with those nonprofits that bug us for contributions but don't give us anything to be excited about. Now we can just tell them we simply don't have the cash to help them. And we can feel good inside about doing that because, after all, isn't that really the case? I can't afford to give to charity because I have to eat, right?

For example, for several years now, I've been giving to what in other times has been a favorite charity, my alma mater, in central Pennsylvania. Great place. They dealt with me, didn't they? Took a rough, provincial kid and drummed an education into his brain? This 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, truth to tell, 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. But what is really happening is that when I read the letters, when I read the bulletin, when I get on the website to see what's happening, and 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 make my eyes glaze over; it just wipes away all motivation to keep giving there.

So, does the economy affect fundraising? I think it does: it allows donors, 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 we cannot 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 tomorrow.