Some fundraisers feel guilty about asking donors to give. Fundraising can feel to them like a"con job" that leaves our organizations richer and our donors poorer. A zero-sum game.
If that were true, this would be a sad state indeed.
But it's not. When you persuade someone to give, they get something out of it too. You get money, they walk away from the transaction with a lot more than the decrease in their bank account.
So celebrate it when donors give. They're funding your cause (hooray!) and making their own lives better (also hooray!).
Here are some of the reasons Why You Should Never Feel Bad About Asking Someone To Give, from the Boomerang blog:
- Giving Makes People Feel Happy.
- Giving is Good for Health.
- Giving Promotes Cooperation and Connection.
- Giving Evokes Gratitude.
- Giving is Contagious.
Nothing in commercial marketing comes close to doing all that.
So if you ever get that twinge of guilt ... that feeling that you're pulling a quick one on donors ... remember that they walk away from the transaction with fewer dollars in their account, but far richer nonetheless!