You recently visited a fund-raising musical evening at Nehru Stadium. Write a report for India Today. You
are Jagdish, a reporter in the magazine.
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:India’s middle classes and donations from them have been growing at a rapid pace. According to PSJP’s report on Philanthropy in India, published in October 2017, ‘this may be the biggest story in Indian philanthropy, and the area with the greatest potential’.This growth in funds being raised has been fuelled by international and Indian NGOs who have realized the value of this income. Donations from the general public do not come with the high levels of restrictions of corporate donations, which means that they can be strategically and tactically deployed where the need is the greatest. Ingrid Srinath, in her article ‘Retail Giving: The power of many’, has captured the immense value that retail donations bring to non-profits and their causes.
But retail donations can be pushed to an even higher level. Having observed the Indian and global fundraising market, here are some suggestions.
Bring on new supporters AND invest to keep them for life
Most organizations – and there are notable exceptions – focus almost exclusively on acquiring new donors and don’t do enough to build long-term relationships with their supporters. A short-term focus on numbers and quick outcomes means that too many NGOs pay too much money to bring on board new donors. In India, unlike in more developed and competitive markets, it is still relatively cheaper to acquire new donors; hence the somewhat lazy focus on acquisition. Between 60 and 70 per cent of donors give only once and non-profits are unable to truly maximize the value of the initial investment.
Retaining these donors and converting them into life-long champions would be far more effective in building a sustainable portfolio. This will require organizations to focus on engagement opportunities. Over a period of time this will mean shifting a greater proportion of their fundraising expenditure into strengthening relationships with existing supporters. This includes better telling of our success and impact stories and how supporters are contributing to that success.
There are examples of organisations developing a pyramid of engagement which starts with those who are generally interested in the cause; moves up to those who share content, petition-signers and regular volunteers; and progresses to supporters who join action groups or even engage new members to join the cause. Matching engagement opportunities with those supporters who are most likely to carry them out requires a real understanding of supporters and their motivations.