The Firehose Effect in Fundraising

There’s a big mistake I see many nonprofits making that’s holding back your major gift fundraising growth.

I call it the Firehose Effect.

This is when your engagement and communications with donors are focused entirely on your organization - your achievements, your leadership, programs, stats, numbers, awards…

All this acts like an “information firehose” we aim at the donor, in the hopes of convincing them of the value of supporting your cause.

But what do firehoses do?

Well one thing’s for sure, they definitely don’t draw the donor closer to your important work…

If you’re going to be truly successful at major gifts, your donor must be an active participant in these conversations with you.

Because being the target of a blast of information is convincing to no one.

Cultivate your curiosity, and think about questions you can ask to start a conversation, get your donor engaged more meaningfully in your work.

Now is the time to ask for a donor’s impressions of something, run an idea by them, or find out what they hope to achieve with their giving.

If you want to be more effective in your major donor meetings, think about how you can take a greater leadership role in guiding your conversations. 

Map out a plan for the meeting, and start thinking strategically about what you’d like to achieve with this valuable time together.

If you truly want to get the full value of this tip, before you go, make a decision:

What’s one thing you want to do to implement this idea in your fundraising in the coming week? Go and time block it into your calendar right now!

By avoiding the Firehose Effect and focusing on building meaningful conversations, you’ll strengthen relationships and set the stage for greater major gift fundraising success.

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