But many of them don’t.  And that explains why a donor does not give to her capacity – because the non-profit person asking the donor to give does not have a suitable “product” or offer to present to the donor that matches her passions and interests.

This is a universal problem in the nonprofit world. Budgets are organized for organizational purposes.  Donor offers usually do not include all the costs because overhead is left out.

You don’t have to settle for this!

This is why we have created the Donor Impact Portfolio (DIP) – a two-part process and system created by Veritus Group to address the very serious problem facing most non-profits – the lack of donor offers for Major Gift Officers, and other fundraisers, to present to donors.  

When fully developed, the DIP clearly lays out all the programs and services provided by the organization along with the “price tag.”  Once this exercise is complete, the major gift officers, as well as others in the organization, have true offers to present to donors.  The donors know exactly how much a program, service, or campaign costs to organize, manage, and execute.  Then, the donor can “purchase” that offer to support the work of the organization.  

What are the benefits of the DIP?  There are many, as follows:

• It takes the total budget and allocates it to the program categories of the non-profit.
• It communicates the program needs in a donor-focused process.
• It shows the donor the total costs of the program category including overhead.
• It allows the non-profit to communicate with donors in a way that suits them and causes them to respond and fund the total budget needs.

This is a perfect solution for higher ed fundraising because the entire operating budget of the organization is converted into a virtual buffet of offers that will meet every need the donor has. 

We have done this with a number of large and small PBS and NPR stations and other organizations around the country as they realize a robust portfolio of donor offers is needed to help their fundraising be successful.  

Move beyond organization focus to donor focus!

We see a lot of offers in our work. Many of them are text-heavy and too technical. They use insider language and focus on the organization.  How does this happen?  The creators of the offer have missed the point. If the offer is all about why “our organization needs the funds, or why our organization is important, or what our organization is doing,” then it is all about the organization and not about the need or how the donor can take action now to address it.  

It doesn’t have to be this way. Your donor needs to know how he or she can help make the world a better place through their gift to your higher ed organization. That’s why you need to take steps to package your budget into donor offers.

Learn more about the Donor Impact Portfolio here and what it can do for your fundraising!

Richard