Why do I give?- A Reflection on Donor Relations

      In my opinion, one of the most frequently asked questions across a large number of disciplines is "why did they do that?" For the purpose of my Fundraising and Grant Writing course at Trinity University, I shall reflect upon some selections from the book Seven Faces of Philanthropy to try and answer the previously stated question in respect to myself and giving money to organizations. As an overview, the portions of the book that I read outlined donor segmentation, the history of the analysis of donor segmentation and presented the concept of the Seven Faces Framework. Within this concept, all major donors were split into seven types: communitarian, devout, investor, socialite, altruist, repayer, and dynast.

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       When reading this text, I couldn't help but think about my own personal motivations and reasons for donating my time and money to non-profit organizations. I would categorize myself as an communitarian, altruist and socialite combination donor. I don't think I am more one than the other but instead blend all three together in the same vein of community service. As a communitarian donor, donating of my time and money to certain organizations just makes sense to me. If I have the ability to give to something I believe in, why wouldn't I?  As an altruist, my only motivation of giving stems off of that of communitarian in that I want to give because I find it satisfying and I simply want to. My favorite quote is "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and I think it perfectly encapsulates the mentality of an altruist donor. As a socialite donor, my participation in a national service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, has given me an opportunity to have a leadership role and use both planning skills and my social network to make some good in the world happen.
      
      Now that I've define what my perspectives are, I think its appropriate to think about if I were to ask a donor for time or money. Who would I feel most comfortable asking to give? Who would I dread asking because it would be the most difficult? 

      Considering these questions, if I were placed in a position of fundraising, I think I would be most comfortable asking a donor most like myself to give money- so communitarians, altruists and socialites. If I had to rank them, I would place communitarians as the easiest to approach across a range of circumstances. Communitarians are the largest group of donors and they see giving as a two dimensional thing: not only does it look good for them to donate their money and time but it also serves the greater good of the community. These donors would respond positively to an ask from stable nonprofits that impact the community, offer some sort of leadership position for donors on boards and  are a reliable organization based on their history and IRS nonprofit status. Depending on the organization and the circumstances of the ask, I would place altruists and socialites as easy to ask, as well. Altruists make up a small percentage of the greater donor circle with only 9% of donors holding this "personality" type. These donors give selflessly simply because they consider it the right thing to do and ask nothing in return from the organization. Depending on the organization's mission and area of work, I feel as though these donors would be approachable and ready to give if our goals and mission matched up with their morals and personal beliefs. Socialites come in just above altruists at 10.8% of all major donors and typically belong to social groups that already work with and benefit nonprofits. Given the circumstances of an opportunity to give for a large event for a nonprofit, I think these donors would be happy to help contribute.

      Addressing the other end of the asking spectrum, I think the investor donors would be the most difficult to ask for a monetary donation. As described in the 7 Faces Framework, investor donors are affluent individuals who do want to give back to the community but in a way that best suits their tex deductible outcome. These donors value professionalism and well known nonprofits. Given those desires, I imagine it would be difficult to convince an investor donor to give to new and lesser known nonprofits that need the most help. Without an established system of operations and a positive history of the work their nonprofit has done, investor donors would not see the desire in giving to that nonprofit and would funnel their dollars elsewhere.

      Just like all things in life, I do not think this list of 7 stereotypes is complete and definitive. Like myself, I think donors can be a mixture of these 7 faces that creates their own unique mentality behind giving back. When making an ask, its just a matter of creating a personal relationship with your donors so you can identify their habits and ask them in the best way possible.