Charities Learn that Donors Make Decisions Based on Data

Apparently, there’s an organization in Boston helping nonprofits understand what we already know at Charity Navigator - that today’s donors demand data about the charities seeking their support. An article in The Boston Globe explained how this program teaches the charities how to make effective pitches to potential donors. The reporter, Sacha Pfeiffer, sums it up perfectly when she says “many prospective donors are turned off by pitches that try to tug at their heartstrings. Instead, they want to know if an organization is well-run, financially sound, innovative, and poised to truly make a difference…”

That’s not to say that donors don’t care about the charity’s mission or the plight of those it is trying to help. Rather, donors want to differentiate between the more than 1 million nonprofits vying for their support. Basically, they want to support the charity that will give them the biggest bang for their buck, which Dale Bearden, a managing director at Babson Capital Management, articulates in the article when he says "I know they're all going to help people, so I want to give my money to someone who will help people three times as efficiently."