Donor Communities & Watching TV

All my favorite TV shows are about communities.

They can be about found families (Mad Men), about communities tied by place (Deadwood), those that are tied by shared vision and values (Star Trek), or even those communities that are built around work (Taskmaster).

And while I’ll watch other shows, it’s those shows that I keep coming back to because community – a place and a sense of belonging – is important to all of us.

And it’s part of the fundraising world that often goes overlooked.

Too often, we have a simplistic way of treating our donors and the people served by our mission.

Donors give, client receive.

We tell ourselves that donors just want to give (or that we can convince them to give) – and that giving is the ultimate expression of their connection to our organization.

In other words, we ask, they give, and then we go away.

Till we need something.

Then, we’re back!

Remember those shows I mentioned? They’re complicated (well, some of them are). In the stories that really stick with me, the characters aren’t so easily categorized. Villains do the right thing, heroes are flawed, situations are ambiguous.

Just like real relationships. Things are rarely black and white.

So, how are you treating your donors?

Are you building time and space to learn about them?

Are you inviting them to join you in your mission?

Are you substituting curious and bold conversations with simple rules

(We can’t ask volunteers to give money because they already give their time and they’ll be mad. Sound familiar?)

I understand that our industry and the systems that help us fundraise often encourage this type of thinking. Breaking out and trying something new can be risky.

But I think the risk is often overstated. I think people want to (and need to) belong to something bigger than themselves.

In this week’s video, I talk about ways to build community – and some of the challenges that nonprofits need to overcome when talking with supporters about the mission.

If you are ready to do more with your fundraising – and to start thinking about the community that you’ve built around your cause – then let’s get to work. Drop a comment or a message and we'll get started!