Is it a Donation? It is Business Decision?
I visited the offices of a community foundation last month, I was ushered into a small, lovely meeting room overlooking the city’s most famous avenue. The room was tastefully decorated and filled with local artwork. A stack of postcards with information about the artist rested on a side table.
The room was named after the artist. From the community foundation’s viewpoint, the income and the ongoing relationships are the benefit of this arrangement. From the donor’s viewpoint, the benefits included:
- An opportunity to support the community and the community foundation’s work,
- The chance to display artwork in a room designed to highlight it.
- The prospect that over time the art would be viewed by many visitors, many with the means to buy it. Within this group, were people who were new to the community and needed art to fill new homes.
Decisions to donate are based on the desire to meet important basic human needs, to give back, to help those with less, and to bring about a desired change. Decisions to give to your nonprofit can be supported by offering donors customized benefits to help them reach their goals. In this case, if you were an artist with means, who loved your community foundation, wouldn’t a gift to it that allowed you display your art to potential buyers be a no-brainer?
Question for Today
What no-brainer opportunities can you offer your top ten donors?
