Stop this "donor centric" madness

Be confident that your organization knows your stuff.

Last Saturday, my wife and I went out to dinner. We sat at the bar. We were presented with a menu - which highlighted a few specials for the evening - ordered from the bartender and waited. When the food arrived we were delighted - even a little giddy - and proceeded to enjoy a lovely meal, unmasked even, surrounded by fellow restaurant-goers enjoying a long-awaited night on the town.

But we didn’t request food that wasn’t on the menu, didn’t negotiate our final bill with the maitre'd, didn’t ask for our kids to receive special treatment the next time they came into the restaurant, and didn’t ask for access to the chef’s supplier list so we could help our friend in the distribution business compete for their services.

But every day, donors ask nonprofit organizations to perform similar gymnastics-meets-kabuki theatre gyrations when major donations are on the table.

Earlier this week I read a terrific letter on this topic from Christina Engel, Executive Director of The Magic Cabinet. Her letter was a response to a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy exposé titled, “In their Own Words: What Matters most to Big Donors”, representative of the Chronicle’s standard donor-lionization journalism.

Engel implores the donor class to “initiate the relationship and demonstrate trust by relinquishing (donor) power and directing it toward (nonprofits).”

And she’s right. Why should donors expect to walk into a nonprofit organization and use their financial contribution as leverage to nudge or even revector the purpose of the organization? Why has “donor-centric fundraising” become gospel among many highly respected fundraisers and nonprofit professionals alike? Why do we contort ourselves to the often novice (and even whimsical) gift stipulations offered by the donor class?

That last question is meant to be rhetorical of course. Nonprofit leaders shouldn’t be contorting themselves to meet donor requirements, because these requirements are often driven by an amateur or sound-byte-infused vision of the way the world should work. We are the ones who know our organizations best. We know our capabilities, our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and most importantly, we know our constituents.

So the next time you're inclined to put your donor’s interests or preferences above the needs of your organization, steel yourself. Remind the donor that you have a vision, or a menu of giving opportunities that have been carefully vetted and approved by your development team or committee, and invite the donor to participate in that vision, rather than supply their own.

Because when you do the latter, you engage in a no-win negotiating exercise that posts your reputation as collateral and costs you and your organization the donor’s respect, and you cede your organization’s expertise for no reason.

Just stop doing it. It’s beneath us all.