Why Fundraising is Harder Than You Think

Lazy Marketing Projections and ‘Out-of-Thin-Air’ Goals Often Have No Relationship to Reality

It’s a mistake made across all sectors of business in addition to nonprofits.

We believe it’s easier to get people to do what we want than it really is.

Read that again to make sure you get it, because this is the great challenge of marketing in all its forms. First you need to make sure you don’t fall into this mind-trap. Then, you need to maniacally educate the people around you avoid it. Fundraising is hard.

The failure to acknowledge how difficult a task we have undertaken, when we go out into the world to persuade people to join our causes and donate to our campaigns, can lead to unrealistic expectations and epic letdowns. I’ll share one from my own experience toward the end.

Suppose you have an annual fundraising event that has grown in revenue each of the last five years. It’s easy to start believing that it will continue to grow and to bank on it, without acknowledging that each year, the challenge begins from square one.

People must be told about the event.

Then they must make the decision to buy a ticket (or tickets).

Then they must plan to attend.

Then they must actually attend – these are separate steps.

Then they must participate by giving and buying things at the event.

Each of these steps involves a sacrifice of time, money, or both.

What are some of the forces that work against each of these actions and make fundraising so hard?

1) Schedule Pressure from All Corners of the Earth

Work, family, friends, birthday parties, weddings, unexpected tragedies or celebratory events, invitations to other things, general fatigue and overwhelm, job losses, job changes, relocating…

Do you see how many ways a person can be led to decide NOT to attend your event?

The same forces – and many more we could list – work against people’s decisions to donate, to volunteer, to share your stuff on Facebook, to join your newsletter, to attend your 5k, and the other actions you want them to take.

And all this happens even to your most fervent supporters, to the people you just know will show up.

When I got married, we were told by wedding planners that about 60% of the people invited to weddings will show up. But we knew this wouldn’t happen to us, because we were only going to invite people we knew would come. So we planned our wedding, mathematically determined how much cake and food we would need, apportioned the necessary number of parking spaces, and sent out the invitations.

On the big day, guess how many people showed up?

60%.

And we had a whole lot of leftover cake.

The underlying assumption you’re making when you presume people will take your desired action is powerful, but massively wrong in every way:

Because I care about this, everyone else will care about this.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Do not be deceived.

Political sidenote: People make the same faulty assumption on every side of every political issue. You do it. I do it. The less we’re aware of it in ourselves, the more divisively we act and speak. This presumption is the barrier to peaceful collaboration, because it’s the opposite of empathy.

2) Changing Priorities

When someone first joins your list, attends your event, gives to your cause, they are thrilled and excited and motivated. Sometimes, that carries on for many years, and your mission becomes theirs.

But other times, the passion fades.

Maybe they were single when they met you, but then got married and had kids. Suddenly, they started to prioritize other things in how they use their time and money. Your charity starts to move down their ladder of importance.

Maybe they watch a powerful documentary or read a book about a different need in the world, and they decide to devote all their resources to that mission instead of yours. Nothing you say or do will change their mind, because you didn’t do anything wrong. They just picked a different cause to fight for.

You can never assume lifelong loyalty to a cause or an organization. No one is untouchable.

3) Mistrust, Doubt, and Uncertainty

It can creep in with barely a whiff. The smallest slight from a person in leadership. A subtle (or not so subtle) hint from a news report. A passing reference made by a friend.

It doesn’t take much to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust about an organization. Again, this is almost completely out of your control.

Suppose you have a charity that supports veterans. This is one of the sectors in the nonprofit world where scams and frauds have preyed upon the generosity of caring people.

Imagine one of your most loyal supporters has a friend who gives to one of these less reputable orgs, and finds out from a report on 60 Minutes that the CEO of her charity is a globe-trotting free-spender who owns his own island. Will your loyal supporter now have some doubts about your own charity’s trustworthiness?

Almost certainly.

Will she stop giving? Probably not immediately, but the seeds of doubt have been planted. She’s a little more on guard. A little more suspicious. A little less blindly loyal. And you have to fight a little harder to keep her.

Don’t stop fighting to keep your most loyal supporters.

‘Free’ Is Not Always Better – the ‘Deal Dash’ Deception

One way these assumptions play out in the business world is in the concept of ‘free.’

So many businesses assume that because they give something away for free, well then why wouldn’t everyone want to try it?

Free consultations, free trials, free samples, free massages, free meals, free gifts. And the biggest one of all – free shipping.

I hate free shipping.

You know why? Because shipping isn’t free. Ever.

The Post Office doesn’t ship for free.

UPS doesn’t ship for free.

FedEx doesn’t ship for free.

No one, anywhere on earth, ships for free.

So when a company offers me free shipping, I know something about that company: Either they’ve marked up their prices to make up the difference, or there’s something fishy going on.

Deal Dash is my favorite example of this.

They have these TV commercials featuring ecstatic customers who say they’ve bought things like laptops and TVs for twenty bucks. Right there, something’s shady. Who sells a $900 TV for twenty bucks? But still, it’s a compelling idea, and I’m tempted to visit their website.

But then, near the end of the commercial one customer announces, with a slight air of entitlement because some people view it as a right, “And shipping is always free.”

Let’s think about this for a second.

First, you’re telling me I can get laptops and televisions for almost nothing. And on top of that, I don’t have to pay for shipping?

I ordered a box of cookies from Mrs. Fields not too long ago. Shipping alone for one box of 18 cookies cost $9.99. But Deal Dash expects me to believe that shipping a TELEVISION costs nothing?

Do you see my problem with this? Someone is paying to ship that television. And they’re paying a lot more than $9.99 to do it. So how is it possible for me to buy a TV for twenty bucks, which is far less than what the shipping MUST cost, and then shipping is also free?

The answer: It’s not possible.

So my conclusion is, there’s something fishy about Deal Dash, and I want no part of it. I don’t care how good the deals seem. Something is off. Someone, somewhere, must be making a lot of money off this, because they also have enough money to advertise on television.

Too Good to Be True

Deal Dash makes the assumption that by offering free shipping, people will try out their service. But for me at least, it has the opposite effect. Their free shipping offer made me not want to try it, because it’s too good to be true.

“Too good to be true” is a real objection buyers have that salespeople must overcome.

Hopefully you’re seeing how these kinds of assumptions can lead you to disregard how hard fundraising can be.

Just because you tell people about your event doesn’t mean they’ll show up.

Just because you want people to give doesn’t mean they will.

Just because you care, doesn’t mean other people care.

Every event, every campaign, every letter, every email, and every social post you send out, people have to be compelled to read it and act on it.

Failed Fundraising Example: Peer to Peer

One fundraising campaign I worked with had a peer-to-peer component. We used a CRM that made it possible for people to create personal fundraising web pages and go out and fundraise for the cause.

At one point, one of our volunteers invited a bunch of friends to hear a presentation about the campaign. The presentation ended with a call to action – become a P2P fundraiser. The secondary CTA was to join our newsletter.

Out of all the people who came (about 20, I believe) – not one became a P2Per, and only two signed up for the newsletter. And remember, these people knew the volunteer who put on the event. These were not strangers. They were friends. So trust was a non-issue. But even though becoming a P2P fundraiser costs nothing and all the mechanics are done for you, no one took the offer.

Not one.

Never underestimate the difficulty in getting people to do what you want them to do.

But never give up either, because the fundraising journey is one of the best ones you can walk (or swim) with people who share your vision and passion for your mission.

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