Fundraising -- Communication and Donor Expectations

The goal of every appeal should be to generate in the donor’s mind an expectation as close to reality as possible. Donor expectation is closely associated with truthful communication. After reading or hearing the "truthful communication," the prospective donor should have developed an accurate expectation of what a gift will accomplish in response to the appeal.

Although the Standard is worded in the negative ("must not create unrealistic . . . expectations"), it is more instructively approached from the positive ("must create realistic expectations").

The appeal will generate certain donor expectations as to what the donor’s gift will accomplish. The key question to ask in preparing the appeal is, "Will the expectation generated in the mind of the donor match the reality of what will occur?"

The appeal should address donor expectations in two ways. The first is the nature of the ministry that the appeal is contemplating. Does the appeal create a realistic expectation of the nature of the ministry's achievement if it receives all the necessary funding? This requires a careful presentation of the ministry opportunity.

Using a broad, "saleable" appeal to raise funds for a narrower purpose is not in keeping with this Standard. For example, it would be false and misleading to direct an appeal "to feed the hungry," when the real intent is to build an administration building for a relief and development ministry. Likewise, it would be inappropriate to raise funds "to put Bibles in the hands of the Third World" when, in fact, the funds are to be used to support long-term missionaries working in the area—even if these missionaries have a part in distributing the Bibles.

In both of these examples, the typical donor’s expectation from the appeal would not be in line with the ministry’s intent.

The appeal’s goal should be to present a precise and accurate description of the nature of the ministry that the gift will help accomplish. This will ensure that the donor’s expectations and what the ministry accomplishes with the donor’s gift are in alignment.

The second area of donor expectation deals with the impact of the gift in achieving the stated ministry opportunity.

Most donors are aware that ministries have a certain amount of administrative costs. When appeals are stated generally, a typical donor assumes that a small portion of the gift will be used to cover such administrative costs. However, as the language describing the ministry opportunity becomes more specific and pointed, the typical donor is more likely to expect the entire amount of the gift to be used directly for the stated ministry, rather than to cover related overhead or administrative costs.

No clearly observable line of demarcation separates a general appeal from a specific appeal. However, the organization should remember the following principles in relating the language of the appeal to donor expectation:

• The more specific the language describing how the gifts will be used, the greater is the donor’s expectation that the entire gift will be used completely for that purpose.
• The more general the language of the appeal, the greater is the donor’s expectation that a small portion of the gift will be used to cover administrative and overhead costs relating to the ministry.