Articles & White Papers

08/09/2005
What motivates donors?

What motivates donors?

Gerig is a consultant with Advancement Associates, Inc. a firm that supports the missions of faith-based organizations with a full range of advancement consultation services.

Before supplying an answer to his question he spoke of the importance of “relationship fundraising” – an approach that centers on the unique and individual connection a school has with each of its donors. It should be an “overriding consideration,” Gerig said, “to care for and develop that bond.”

Donors, those people who actively support the work of each respective school through their sustained financial contributions, should each “know that they are important, valued and considered,” he said.

One of the crucial results of a strong affinity with a donor is that the school can learn about, respectfully respond to, and sometimes help to shape a donor’s motivations.

From professional reading, his own experiences, and an informal survey of development directors with whom he currently works, Gerig compiled a listing of primary donor motivations. Here is the list, in no significant order.

1. Tax planning
2. Ego, self-esteem, status
3. Quest for immortality
4. Desire for emotional response
5. Wish for self-preservation
6. Vested interests
7. In memoriam
8. Gratitude
9. Identification with the cause
10. Guilt
11. Altruism
12. Religious heritage
13. Compassion
14. Answering a voice of authority
15. Social ambition
16. Getting value for money
17. In response to being asked
18. Feels good
19. Family history


Gerig noted that several motivations often operate together in spurring a donor’s support of a school. Motivations have changed little over the years and are likely not to change in the future. However, he argued that schools can contribute significantly to the development of donor motivations. “Appeals for financial support should be consonant with your organization’s mission and values,” Gerig said. “And as representatives of church-related schools, you can help donors see that Christian faith and the practice of stewardship go hand in hand.”

Gerig uses the terminology of “relationship fundraising,” taken from Ken Burnett’s Relationship Fundraising (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2002) and borrowed concepts of “fundraising as ministry” earlier from Rebekah Basinger, a former colleague who, with Thomas Jeavons, wrote Growing Givers’ Hearts (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2000).

Gerig is currently in consultation contracts with two academies and a school of special education in addition to other assignments.