Mark Oppenheimer wrote a great article in the New York Times about a couple of different things that motivate big donors: naming rights vs. anonymous donations (and altruistic satisfaction). He came at it from a religious angle - both Judaism and Christianity elevate anonymous giving, giving without any expectations of recognition or return, giving without strings attached...
Without getting into any whiff of the hierarchical morality of various giving styles, this article can help inexperienced fundraisers gain a little insight into what might drive a donor. Spend a little time thinking about what these two desires say about a donor - the desire to have your name attached to a building, to leave a legacy, to be recognized and celebrated not only by an organization's leadership but by your peers and the public...and the desire to know what no one else does: that you've changed lives, to feel that you are motivated by purer stuff, to feel like you have fulfilled a commandment.
Then take it one step further: how can your organization provide for these kinds of donors?
Maybe some day we can have a conversation about how some of these ideas might guide you and your organization in crafting your development strategies (are you better at providing for one type of donor motivation than another? How do you attract those donors? Are you missing out on a big piece of major donor pie by not being able to reward donors looking for a particular response to their donation? When it comes to cultivating anonymous donations, or going gung-ho in the other direction, encouraging naming opportunities for every level...are you communicating the right things about your organization?) More on all that later...
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