Top 15 Reasons Why People Give to Charity that Will Spark Wildly Successful New Fundraising Ideas

Is Your Nonprofit Appealing to All Your Donors’ Motivations for Giving?

Lots of people give to charity. And many of those people love it.

It’s important to keep that in mind, because fundraising is hard. But contrary to what you might think, your biggest obstacle isn’t convincing people to give. According to this very insightful study about why people give, your biggest challenge is much simpler than that: How much money is in the bank account.

When people who want to give make more money, they give more away. It’s a direct relationship. Likewise, for the people who don’t want to give – even if they get rich, they still won’t give. Or if they do, it’s only grudgingly and under much protest and compulsion.

Understanding how and why people give will improve your fundraising, because you’ll waste less time on people you wish would give, and focus more on the kinds of people who will, and the fundraising strategies they respond to.

Knowing why people give will spark new fundraising ideas. So use this list to come up with a few.

Enough talk – on to the list!

The Top 15 Reasons Why People Give to Nonprofits

1. They Care

Maybe it’s a cause. Maybe it’s a pressing and ongoing need. Maybe it’s a crisis and they feel compassion for those who are suffering, such as a natural disaster. Despite the cynical prism through which some view the world, hundreds of millions of people across the world actually care, and want to give for no other reason than that.

2. They Want to Help

This is different than just caring. This is about wanting to make a difference, to feel like they “did something,” rather than just standing around. A friend of mine once mused about what he would tell his grandkids one day if they asked him what he did about human trafficking. This was part of his motive for joining a big fundraising campaign.

3. Ego

Lots of people say they don’t care what people think. Most of them are lying. We do care, and some people try to spruce up their image and self-worth by giving. It’s a less altruistic motive, but it’s real. When you communicate with donors, it’s not a bad idea to toss in a few words (or free gifts) that appeal to this particular motive.

4. Their Workplace Supports It

Some companies target their charitable giving to specific causes, or sometimes specific charities. When a new employee shows up, they might have never thought about that cause before. But within a year or two, they’re telling all their friends and family about how much they love it.

5. Faith-Based Reasons 

Some religions urge their followers to give. The Bible even says “God loves a cheerful giver.” For people who base their choices on religious creeds and principles like this, giving is a no-brainer. It’s not a question of if, but to whom they will give.

Are you appealing to religious motives for giving? Your charity doesn’t need to be religious in nature to do this!

6. Their Eyes Were Opened

It could be a news story. Maybe they saw something on TV or in a movie, or read a story about an issue that was new to them. Some people start giving when their eyes are opened to something and their emotions stir them to action.

This is one reason you should be doing content marketing. You can give them that news story.

7. Personal Experience

Some people suffer from new diseases, or even more commonly, have a relative who does. This new disease gets them angry, and they want to fight it. I met a guy whose daughter has a rare form of epilepsy called PCDH19. Now he helps an organization that raises money for research.

8. Celebrity Influence 

This follows well from #6 and #7. Often a celebrity will have a personal experience, or have their eyes opened to a need or a cause, and they decide to get involved. Because they have such a big platform, their influence on large numbers of people can swell entire organizations beyond their imaginations.

9. Family Tradition

Some families have been giving to the same foundations, universities, and nonprofits for generations. Kids grow up with it, so it’s a natural part of their lives. Create contexts for whole families to get involved, and you can reap their support for decades.

10. Making Up for Failures

Some people believe in karma, and feel that doing good things, like giving to charity, makes up for bad things they’ve done.

11. Someone Invited Them to an Event

This is one of many reasons to hold live fundraising events and activities. Get people to show up and invite friends. Some of those friends can turn into your most fervent supporters and can become major donors. You never know who will show up.

12. Principle of Momentum

People do follow a crowd. And they also love reaching goals. It is a fact of goal-based fundraising that the closer you get to a goal, the easier it is to raise money for it. We saw this in the $500k campaign that is the basis for my book, The Ultimate Fundraising Case Study.

Getting to $200,000 was very hard. Getting to $300,000 was even harder. But once we passed $400,000, the rest felt effortless and inevitable. We were still working, but it was a foregone conclusion by that point. The Principle of Momentum motivates people to give, and give big. Use it!

Why does this work? Because there’s a greater confidence the money will actually make a difference. It’s tangible. Matching grants have the same effect. You’re doubling your impact. People want impact. This one combines with Reasons #1 and #2 – people who care and want to help will give big when the finish line is in sight.

13. Taxes

The biggest giving day of the year in the U.S. is December 31^st. So if you don’t think taxes are a motivator for giving, you must be using the Chinese calendar. Though in the U.S., the tax motivation may now be weakened for all but wealthier households, since the 2018 tax law increased the standard deduction so much. We will see how this affects giving over the next few years, and how strong a motivation taxes really are.

14. Legacy

This is one reason people start foundations or put charities in their estate plans. Some of the biggest donations happen in part because of this reason.

Are you asking your biggest supporters to put your nonprofit in their wills? You’ll never know the windfalls you might have received from such a simple request if you don’t ask for it.

15. Top Reason of All: Because Someone Asked Them!

This is the one I could go on about for a long time (but I won’t!).

All the reasons you just read are real, and you want to capitalize on all of them in your fundraising communications and marketing. But we can never forget the first reason people give.

This isn’t the reason they’ll provide when they get asked in a survey why they give to charity. They won’t give this reason because it’s so fundamental that it doesn’t occur to them.

I might care about helping people, but that’s a general feeling. When someone asks me to help a specific person or group of people, now I’ve been given a means of acting on my desire.

I personally have invited people to give as part of Ambassador campaigns and coming to various events. They never would have given to those causes had I not asked. There are other reasons that motivated them to say “yes” to my invitation, surely. But none of those reasons can be activated until you ask.

So ask.

Ask in writing. Ask over email. Ask online. Ask in social media. Ask at live events. Ask in churches. Ask in networking groups. Ask businesses. Ask individuals. Ask friends. Ask volunteers. Ask previous donors. Ask family.

And… tell your supporters and volunteers to go ask all those categories of people too!

Ask, and you will receive. Ask more, and you’ll receive more.

This is why people give to charity.

Bonus: Eye-Opening Statistic on Why People Give

The study referenced at the opening included another enlightening statistic.

55% of Americans say they give to charity.

In a previous blog about how to build trust with donors, I quoted another study that said 35% of people don’t trust charities. I criticized that number as having no meaning to nonprofits, because you should focus on the 65% who do trust them.

It’s true. Put these two stats together.

55% of people give. 35% don’t trust charities. Guess how many of that 35% are in the 55%. None.

Focus on the people who give, and why they give. Don’t worry about the people who don’t give, or why they don’t.

Craft a Fundraising Strategy that Capitalizes on All 15 Reasons Why People Give

This is why fundraising is hard. Most nonprofits, if they were to step back and look at their fundraising, probably aren’t appealing to all 15 reasons people give. In fact, they’re probably only appealing to one or two. It’s hard to do this, and it takes time to think and plan it.

This is something a fundraising consultant can help you with.

ProActive Content will analyze all your fundraising strategies, and look for the giving motives you’re overlooking.

Which giving motives are you not calling out?

Which audiences are you missing?

What kinds of campaigns are best for these?

If you’d love to have a report answering these three questions for your nonprofit, then request your fundraising consultation now. The first hour is free so you can decide if it will be helpful!

Sign up now!