Yesterday’s post on the ‘TG Ten’–the ten biblical principles that undergird Transformational Giving–becomes even more provocative when juxtaposed against the other TG Ten, namely the principles that undergird traditional (or what I call Transactional) fundraising.
Call me out if you think I’ve created a straw man here. Otherwise, please excuse me while I go shower.
The TRANSACTIONAL TEN
Principle 1: Transactional fundraising utilizes solicitation tools, techniques, and strategies in an effort to maximize the donations made to an organization from a limited pool of resources.
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Principle 2: Transactional fundraising is Darwinian in nature, favoring survival of the fittest organizations that excel in the competition for limited dollars. For religious organizations, God is called on either to bless and guide the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts or to spare the nonprofit from having to engage in fundraising.
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Principle 3: Transactional fundraising utilizes various forms of giving to the donor (e.g., recognition, premiums, friendships, power) as helpful tools toward the goal of prompting the donor to give more to the organization.
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Principle 4: Organizations acquire donors for the purpose of raising support for the organizations’ efforts to impact the cause.
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Principle 5: Transactional fundraising relationships between donors and organizations are organizational support relationships where friendship and likeability are cultivated as helpful catalysts to increased giving.
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Principle 6: The organization understands itself to be the primary means of advancing the cause, with donor referrals of qualified personal contacts highly valued.
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Principle 7: The relationship between organization and donor is fundamental. Relationships between donors can provide important benefits to the organization, including referrals, credibility enhancement, and presentation opportunities.
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Principle 8: The culmination of each donor cultivation cycle involves the donor giving a gift in response to organizational solicitation, followed by the organization expressing appropriate thanks and supplying compelling reporting of how the organization utilized the donor’s gift.
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Principle 9: Giving is understood to be latent in donors, activated and maximized through an effective combination of solicitation tools, techniques, and strategies.
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Principle 10: Donors are categorized and attended to by organizations according to the actual and/or potential recency, frequency, and monetary value of the donors’ giving.
