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Hearts and Heads

nonprofit fundraising

We've all heard something to this effect, "Some donors give with the heart and others with the head." I'm sure you've seen both types of donors in your experience as a nonprofit asker.

But when you first start working with a prospect how do you know which give with the heart and which with the head and which with a combination of both?

Here are five straight forward questions to use in your visits with new prospects. They'll help you start to determine which type of donor - head, heart, combo - you're working with.

  1. How have you and your family been impacted by the issues our organization was founded to solve?
  2. How have you and your family directly benefited from the mission of our organization?
  3. How did you first become involved with our organization?
  4. Where do we fall among your philanthropic priorities?
  5. Depending on the time of year - what are your plans for spring, summer, the holidays?

The goal with these questions is to get your prospect talking about themselves. Your task is then to  actively listen for clues that will give you some insight into the type of donor they might be. Once you know you can adjust future visits and communications accordingly.

Of course you could always go the direct route and ask, "Do you consider yourself more of a heart or head donor?" That always works.

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