{"id":3164,"date":"2012-06-27T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/?p=3164"},"modified":"2012-06-26T23:20:44","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T06:20:44","slug":"the-benefits-of-incentivizing-fundraising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/the-benefits-of-incentivizing-fundraising\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Incentivizing Fundraising"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CC Photo (c) photologue_np, Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Fundraising is an essential part of all projects — and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tough. How do you make it easier?<\/p>\n

The answer is simpler than you might think. Fundraising is as much about research and asking the right group of people as it is about understanding basic human psychology. What are the reasons that drive a person to give money to a project that hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet been started? How do you entice people to give what they can, without the pressure of having to give \u00e2\u20ac\u0153too much\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

Working in development, I am exposed to countless successful campaigns on daily basis; campaigns that solicit long-term investors in an organization or type of work, and some that look for one time gifts to support specific projects\/purposes. In each instance, it takes knowing what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re selling, and remembering one simple, and often underrated, tactic that entices people to give to a wide variety of projects: incentivizing.<\/p>\n

As much as we may wish it were otherwise, people rarely, if ever, give something for nothing. Instead, it seems that people give for one of three reasons:<\/p>\n

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  1. They fear losing or never seeing something they love (for example, they fear a radio station will go away because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t donate, or they give to a film project because they fear never being able to see the movie).<\/li>\n
  2. They want to avoid what will take the place of the current norm if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give (for example, they give to a presidential candidate because they want to avoid the consequences of what will happen if the other teams loses).<\/li>\n
  3. They give because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting something in return. Exclusive content, an insider benefit, a chance to be part of a team (for example, people give to arts organizations not because there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any others or the competition is scary, but because they get benefits that bring them closer to the work when they do).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Unless you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re providing a life-altering good or service, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to want to entice people by giving something in return. In most situations, there is no eminent threat to people not involved in the finance side of a project of the service\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dissolution. There are constantly new forms of entertainment, education, and public services to choose from. Potential supporters aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to give because what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re creating is the only option in town (ESPECIALLY when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being asked by countless people to fund a slew of new projects). They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to want something back. Even if all you have to offer is the chance to hang out with the director, or tour a facility, or get special insider info.<\/p>\n

    Incentivizing tends to be scary because it means more up-front costs. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have the money for your project, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly come up with money for an investor return, right? Wrong. Access to exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of daily shoots, a chance to grab a drink with cast members at an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exclusive party,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and many other low-cost options can entice and encourage people to give.<\/p>\n

    Most of the time, people ask their family and friends for money first because they have a relationship with them. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re already connected and want to help, already understand the project, or like being the “insider” when it comes to something up and coming. So why not expand that circle of friends? Create opportunities to build relationships through incentives, and your one-time on-the-fence supporter may become a new friend who shows back up to help again and again.<\/p>\n

    The more time you invest in a person, the more time you take to get to know them, the more likely they are to give that same time and attention back. Spend some time crafting a compelling, heartfelt pitch. Spend time creating an invitation to an event whose quality shows the event is worth something. Find a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thank you\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gift that is both relevant to the project, and worth something to the supporter. You, as the organizer, should remember the old adage: give unto others what you would have them give unto you.<\/p>\n

    In the simplest of terms, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to get people to care. To show you care. To invite them to small things without donations, and then work them up. In the theatre, we call these kickbacks donor benefits. In other spheres, you may call them gifts, incentives, or thank you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

    In the end, ask yourself: how much is a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s support worth to you? How much is it worth to ensure that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recurring? Because if you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t willing to invest in them, how can you expect them to invest in you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Fundraising is an essential part of all projects — and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tough. How do you make it easier? The answer is simpler than you might think. Fundraising is as much about research and asking the right group of people as it is about understanding basic human psychology. What are the reasons that drive a person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}