See What’s Out There

Why should I donate? Yes, you do good work. Yes, I care about these issues. OK, you got me. I will donate. But not now. When I get around to it. (Which might not actually happen any time soon.)

I think this is a common subconscious set of thoughts from donors. I will get to it. I made that pledge, but I didn’t return the envelope. Not because I didn’t intend to do it, but because it’s not URGENT. Creating urgency is an important part of fundraising. OK, I get you do good work. But why is it important that I donate now. Right now. Why not tomorrow? Why not next month?

One way to solve the urgency issue is to use a matching program. A typical match program will get a high-net-worth donor to conditionally pledge some money, say, $75,000. They will pay the pledge if you can get another $75,000 to match it. Often this is a nice way to up a gift from a major donor as well as getting your base excited. I was thinking about this recently because I saw two case studies for running matching gift programs online.

The first is from the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). They sent out an email about a week ago to their list saying that a family foundation has agreed to provide $75,000 if the amount could be matched. In about two days the $75,000 came in online. Here’s the amazing thing… a lot more money came in phone calls! “I just got this email about the matching and I want to donate.” So they were over their goal. (Don’t forget, if you get calls or letters that reference an online campaign, the online campaign needs to be credited for those gifts in your database so you can accurately measure the impact of the campaign.)

Within a couple days, the whole experience got someone else excited about the matching possibilities and I got this email from Ruth Messinger, the head of AJWS:

Dear Michael,

During these Days of Awe I am particularly grateful for your ongoing commitment to AJWS.

Last week I shared the news that, in the spirit of the High Holy Days, a family foundation agreed to match your contributions up to $75,000.

I am so pleased that, thanks to an outpouring of support, we have met the match.

However, the generosity of our supporters did not stop there. After hearing of the success of the first match, an anonymous donor came forward and offered an additional $100,000 in match funds!

This is the first time in AJWS history that we have been able to extend such a generous offer to our supporters, so please, help us reach our new goal of $175,000 by making a donation today.

With the ongoing help of the AJWS community, we are confronting some of the world’s most difficult challenges. We support the world’s most vulnerable people - where the need is greatest - in communities that have not been reached and not been served by others.

So please, don’t miss this special opportunity to contribute today - your donation will go twice as far and will help AJWS raise up to $350,000 for our critical work around the world!

Thank you for your commitment to global social justice and support of AJWS. May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Warm regards,

Ruth Messinger
President, American Jewish World Service

The second case study is from the Obama campaign. What’s interesting about their approach is the idea of matching real people to each other to create a kind of virtuous circle of leveraged gifts. The Obama people are combining the urgency of the match with the idea of creating community, which has been a lot of what their campaign is about. And they also throw in here a little “prove to me that you’re a man” kind of stuff for added punch (which is the part I don’t really like because I think it dilutes the power of the community sell.) Have a look:

Dear Michael,

Somebody out there believes that you’re ready to own a piece of this campaign.

A fellow supporter has promised that if you make a donation right now, they will match what you give.

So take the next step.

Prove to them that they were right to put their faith in you. Make a donation now and double your impact:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

This isn’t an anonymous donor program backed by big checks from Washington lobbyists or corporate fat cats. This is a one-to-one, supporter-to-supporter effort.

If you make a donation, you’ll be matched up with a real person — another supporter who has put their faith in you. And you’ll be able to read a note from them and send a response.

Here’s how it works:

You choose the amount you’re willing to give — it will be doubled by someone willing to match that amount

You’ll see the name and town of the fellow Obama supporter who agreed to double your donation

You’ll be able to write a note to the person who matched you and let them know why you decided to own a piece of this campaign
https://donate.barackobama.com/match

Our movement is funded by actual people — individuals who are moved to give whatever they can afford, whether it’s five dollars or five hundred dollars.

Most campaigns do not realize the value of contributions from ordinary people — they are focused on the money that comes from Washington lobbyists and special interest groups.

But we reject the notion that lobbyists and PACs represent “real people,” and we’ve refused their money since this campaign began.

So it’s up to you.

Make a donation and show your support. Double your impact by giving today and being a part of our supporter match campaign:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

According to the Campaign Finance Institute, we have raised more money in small dollar contributions than any major campaign in history.

If we keep building our movement this way, we have the potential to fundamentally reshape the political process.

We can end the days of lobbyists and political action committees paying for access and influence.

That’s why we’re so focused on bringing new donors into the campaign. For the next ten days you will write the history of this presidential election through your actions.

You have the opportunity to build the biggest grassroots campaign politics has ever seen.

Make a donation, connect with another supporter, and double your impact now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

Thanks for your support,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Matching programs can work. So if you haven’t tried it, you should. One rule of creating urgency is that you shouldn’t abuse it. You can’t tell people in every communication you have with them all the time that the sky is falling (even if it is!). If you say, “We need you to act today!” and you say it again next week, they will get burned out. They will begin to feel that they can never solve your problems, that you just take and take and no matter how much they give you are still in this crazy urgent situation. And if they feel that way, then your appeals start to make them feel guilty, and guilt is not a tricky tactic in fundraising. Most of the time people will avoid guilt-inducing situations.

If you have your own matching gift story, leave it in a comment here to share it with your nonprofit colleagues.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 5:32 pm and is filed under Nonprofits, ajws, major gifts, fundraising, obama, campaign, michael hoffman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.