Just Give Something!?
Today’s Wall Street Journal announced the anticipated drop-off in corporate giving. What struck me is the psychological blow (as well as financial impact) of being the person or corporation that must ‘quit’ giving to a cause especially when you have invested in the effort for years. The obvious friction of needing to save a balance sheet and yet fill the desire to support those in need is the issue of the day. Perhaps a fundraising strategy for the end the year fundraising campaign may be to ‘just give something.’ For all the time and energy we as nonprofit organizations have invested in getting people to be consistent donors perhaps the time is now to make sure the relationship continues even if the threshold for a contribution drops. A smaller gift that keeps an individual involved does far more than loosing touch all together. Hard decision sometimes require unique solutions. What if your social enterprise works first and foremost to maintain the number of donors and then works in a targeted manner with key donors to reach the fundraising dollar goal (or as close as possible)? See how many contributors and supporters will stay involved (even at a token gift level). It is much easier to raise their giving levels when times get better than to start from a very thin base.
As Red Green says on his PBS show- ‘I am pulling for you’
What-if-concepts 