Fundraisers are taught to keep things comfortable. Don’t challenge the donor’s thinking. Stay agreeable. Keep it warm and fuzzy. But if donors don’t actually know where you stand—if they don’t feel like they know you—what is there to build real trust on? Yes, a donor may appreciate being heard. Yes, they may enjoy the conversation. But when things feel too tidy, too contrived, too inauthentic… does their support reflect a genuine relationship, or merely a go-away gift—signaling no real commitment and no chance of translating into lasting support? Donors give in the most meaningful ways when they feel a real connection—not just to the cause, but to the people behind it. And that kind of trust isn’t built on pretending everything is business as usual. It’s built through real conversations—especially in times like these. The world is messy right now. Nothing on the news is particularly heartwarming or upbeat, and we can’t pretend otherwise with our donors. This isn’t going to sit well with a lot of fundraisers—especially those who hail from Give Now City, where anything that might ruffle a donor’s feathers is always off-limits. But these aren’t usual times. We have to be real. We have to show up fully—even daring to talk about things that would have been completely off-limits in much more stable times. The traditional playbook no longer applies. We explore some of what that means in today’s article in The Butterfly Effect. #responsivefundraising #substack
Dan Drucker
1 周
I would think that donors who are really invested in a cause have no desire to be 'yessed' to death. They want real information, messy truths and potential roadblocks - and how your organization is going to handle all of that. I would never invest in a startup whose founder told me that everything was going to be easy, they'd use the money however I wanted, and nothing could get in the way of success.
Glen E Quiring, CFRE
5 天前
"Donors give. . .. to those behind the cause." Putting that on my whiteboard today.
Oh my gosh yes. Dana Cummings, EdD, CFRE how many times have we talked about this????
Creative, Purpose-Driven Advancement Leadership and Strategic Thought Partner
1 周A lot of this has to do with who you work for and what their rules of engagement are. I worked for, at two points in my career, companies that I could not speak on behalf of, and I absolutely would have been fired if I had engaged in certain types of discussion, which were then tested through very public scandals. That said, there's some nuance to being a community member, which is how most of us gain credibility with not only the community in general but our specific donor base. So I do talk politics with people who want to talk them. Sparingly and as often as possible with an eye to the practical applications. As a side note, I recently got a blistering email from a donor to the effect that she wouldn't support us if we didn't lobby regarding a specific piece of legislature. I of course responded very diplomatically, but my actual thoughts were a lot more complicated and not very diplomatic at all. The short version is that doing that would paint a target on our backs as a non-lobbying organization, and probably isn't as effective as the full-contact, direct-to-legislator discussion and advocacy that we do. And being available, genuine and direct, even when we deeply disagree, is a core value.