How Much Should I Give? Parameters for making a good gift
It’s a simple question, but one that can be tough to answer. How much should I give?
First, a bit of tact is necessary. From the perspective of a fundraiser, stating a specific amount can make the question seem merely transactional. Worse yet, it might prevent the donor from making a larger gift than you had anticipated!
However, anyone who asks this question of a fundraiser is already well on their way to giving something. But you can serve your donors even better by helping them to make not just any gift, but a good gift.
As mentioned many times before, fundraising supports culture (that’s actually the name of this blog!). And organizations become better when their members invest more of themselves in it. A high degree of self-investment constitutes a good gift, and comprises all aspects of time, talent, and treasure.
While everyone will be asked for specific gift amounts at some point in their relationship with an organization, during campaigns for example, for all other times here are the two conditions I generally provide to answer this question fully and to help donors make a good gift:
Something
Everyone should give something. In many ways, this is simply the price of admission to being a member of a community, and any gift is always better than no gift, even if it’s relatively small.
A gift can’t be good if no gift is made. The only gift too small is no gift at all!
Just a little more than you want to give
Secondly, a donor is served well when their giving involves a bit of a flinch.
If a donor is able to consider giving just a little bit more than they originally wanted to give (the amount doesn’t particularly matter) they have made a firmer commitment to the organization’s mission.
In short: I might respond to a donor by saying, “everyone should give something, and preferably just a little bit more than they’d like.” We should always ask people to give, and to give just a bit more than they might have considered.
From here a discussion might open with regard to stretching for specific purposes. But the intention will have already been set, which is to give and to give well, which is the primary goal for all of our donors.
This is an essential part of building the generosity of a community.