We often look at someone across the table or on a Zoom and think, “What might motivate this donor to increase their gift this year?” Or “What might cause this donor to support our campaign with enthusiasm?” After accumulating experience in these situations, however, we begin to realize it’s not so much what we do or say, but rather what motivations the donor brings to this conversation.

When it comes to successful fundraising, donor motivation is at the heart of the matter.

Considering motivation at a general level is one good way to understand motivation for each of our donors through a bigger lens. To get started, we might have questions like these.

What are all the possible motivations for giving?
Do major donors have different motivations in their giving than other donors?
Is legacy giving different in motivation than giving earlier in life?
How important are tax or other financial considerations as motivations to give?
If donors hold several motivations for giving, are some motivations typically stronger than others?

Many years ago, I discovered the work of Tracy Gary, who authored a book titled, “Inspired Philanthropy”[1]. The book's subtitle is “Your Step by Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan” and it’s really a workbook for people who want to become better organized in their own giving. She has updated the book several times over the years, and it’s widely available.

Tracy divides donor motivations into four general categories (but remember that any one of us may have some degree of each of the motivations at any point in time). I have lent my own language to some of these descriptions.

1) Obligatory – honored obligations, “giving back”, often lifelong and almost reflexive support

2) Social – often events or “fun” giving in which donors make gifts with encouragement from others around them; can also include the desire to be seen giving by others and get recognition

3) Heart – passionate or heart-felt support driven by personal experience, often but not always disease or medical-related

4) Strategic – giving meant to make impact leading to change, even transformation, over time

I like these categories because they allow those of us who work in philanthropy and fundraising to share a bit of a vocabulary about donor motivation. For donors themselves (ourselves), thinking of our annual or special opportunity giving in these general categories can be very helpful.

Here are my brief responses to our questions above:

Are these all the possible donor motivations? No, probably not, but the categories cover most giving.

Do major donors have different motivations in their giving than other donors? No, not generally. Sometimes they express one motivation more strongly than others, and some major donors can be known in their community for a certain kind of giving, but that can change over time for them, just like the rest of us.

Is legacy giving different in motivation? Yes, in my opinion legacy giving is a bit of a separate space. It can still involve all four of the categories above, but I believe that Heart giving and Obligatory giving may be most commonly expressed through legacy gifts.

How important are tax or other financial considerations as motivations to give? Not very important, according to surveys of high net worth donors. However, financial and tax considerations can help people give more than they could otherwise. Other motivations have to move the donor first.

If donors hold several motivations, are some stronger than others? Yes, almost always. But this changes over time in any particular donor. That being said, a Heart-Strategic combination is a very strong blend of motivation. If you hear it from a major donor when they talk about supporting your group, you can be confident this upcoming gift will be very meaningful to everyone involved.

My next post will address how we can converse with a donor to discover the specific motivation(s) they bring to a giving opportunity. Stay tuned!

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[1] Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step by Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan, by Tracy Gary, Jossey-Bass, 2007.