Gift officers put tremendous time and energy into identifying the best possible gift ask amounts for each of the donors they engage. They also focus a great deal of attention on identifying the area or purpose of the proposed gift. In other words, gift officers spend a lot of time prescribing gifts to donors.
“We are asking you to consider a gift of $___________ to help with ______________program.”
And, while gift prescription is important to increase giving expectations, describing the impact of the potential gift to donors should always come first.
How can we more effectively describe a potential gift’s impact to the prospective donor? A good place to start is by exploring questions like the following with the donor:
- How, specifically, will the lives of those we serve be improved after this gift is made?
- How, specifically, will this gift allow our institution to serve more?
- What will happen to those we serve (or could serve) if this gift is not made?
- How will our community, our region, or our world be better off after this gift is made?
- As the donor, imagine how you feel in the years to come knowing you helped make this solution possible.
If you want the donor to respond enthusiastically to the prescription, a good first step is to artfully describe the vision for how and why their generosity will matter.
