Page 24 RAIN November/December 1985 year, and more are created than go out of business. Among other things, this means there is a great deal of competition for the charity dollar. To employ the first principle of effective fundraising, you must carefully examine why someone would give their money to your group. Why people give At the level of pure exchange, people give to organizations because they like the newsletter or because they receive a free tote bag, bumper sticker, or some other tangible item. Sometimes they give to a certain group because everyone in their circle gives to that group or because it is a family tradition. Giving may be required to take advantage of something the group offers (classes, theater seats, the swimming pool). At the altruistic level of motivation, people give because they care about the issue, they believe in what is represented by the group, they think the group's analysis of a problem and vision of a solution is correct. Often people give either because they or someone they know were once in the position of the people your group serves (alcoholic, abused, homeless, or unemployed) or because they are thankful that neither they nor anyone they know is in that position. No grocery store whose advertising policy was, "Shop here: We need customers in order to stay in the black" would have any customers. People give because the group expresses their own ideals and enables them to reinforce their image of themselves as, for example, feminists, environmentalists, pacifists. Democrats, et cetera. This association raises their self-esteem. They can say in truth, "I am a caring person," "I have deep feelings for others," "I am helping others." Although these three sets of reasons for giving are legitimate and healthy, most nonprofit organizations appeal to two other motives for giving that, while true for the organizations, will not really motivate people to give. These are: "We need the money," and "Your gift is tax-deductible." Neither of these reasons distinguishes your organization from all the others. All nonprofit organizations claim to need money, and most of them do. The fact that the gift is tax deductible is a nice touch, but gifts to thousands of nonprofit organizations are tax deductible. Neither need nor tax advantage makes your organization special. Don't beg—offer Use the following analogy to determine what will make your organization stand out to prosepective donors: Your organization is a business—a tax-exempt corporation. As a business, the services you provide and the work that you do are like products for sale. Your prospective donors are like customers. Your organization has something they need. (Of course you need donors for ongoing financial suport. But they need you for the work you do.) No grocery store whose advertising policy was, "Shop here: we need customers in order to stay in the black," would have any customers. The store's message is "Shop here: we have the lowest prices, the highest quality, we are convenient, we are friendly, we have good sales, we have variety." The message is clear: We have something you need. Allowing yourself to imagine your donors as customers enables you to move away from yoHr need to their need. That need, that self-interest, is what your fundraising strategies should appeal to. Diversifying Sources Diversity of funding sources is the secret of financial stability. In the early 1980's hundreds of cases illustrated what happened to organizations whose primary source of support was government funding. When that funding was cut or eliminated, the organizations had nothing to fall back on. Many of them severely curtailed their services; many ceased to exist. The need for diversity is not a new lesson. Factory towns face high unemployment when their single industry has to cut back or close. People with only one skill have a more difficult time finding employment than those with a variety of skills. Yet many organizations continue to look for the ideal special event that will provide for their entire budget, or they search for the one person, foundation, or corporation to provide most of the money they need. These groups reason that if
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