Several Catholics apostolates this week shared with me their biggest challenge when it comes to fundraising.
Oddly, I noticed most of their challenges fit the category of myths rather than facts.
“People don’t give because of the economy.”
“I live in a community that doesn’t have a lot of money.”
“My donors are getting older, and I need to replace them with younger donors.”
People believe these myths for a variety of reasons. You might think these myths are true, too. I’m here to tell you the opposite.
Today, I want to debunk three of the most common myths when it comes to finding donors. By doing so, you will become a better fundraiser.
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Question: Which saint, Catholic document, or Church teaching has given you great advice on how to raise funds? Please leave your comment below.
Transcript
Over the next few minutes, you are going to learn three myths and facts about fundraising that are really going to help you with raising money for your mission. Hi, my name is Brice Sokolowski, the founder of CatholicFundraiser.net, a website that’s completely dedicated to helping Catholics just like you with their fundraising. So whether you’re looking for new ideas or just browsing and you’re thinking, maybe this would be good for a friend or someone else that you know in your Catholic community, you’re going to find this video podcast very helpful.
So now, before we dive into the three myths and facts you’ll learn, I want to make sure that you’ve downloaded — absolutely for free — The 10 Commandments to Catholic Fundraising These are 10 essential tips that I recommend every Catholic follow when it comes to fundraising. These 10 tips can help you as they have helped me. Like they have helped thousands of Catholics. And you can download it absolutely free. You’ll find the link is below The 10 Commandments to Catholic Fundraising.
Okay, let’s dive into myths and facts about fundraising. There are a lot of both floating around about how to actually fundraise and what’s possible with fundraising. So I’ve picked three of the biggest ones that I come into contact with on a regular basis. I’m going to help you identify whether they’re a myth or a fact.
So the first myth versus fact is, the performance of the economy determines how much people donate. This is a myth. Whether you are in a down economy, great economy, it really, really doesn’t matter. Fundraising, for the most part, has been stable. It’s fluctuated a little bit over the years, but it’s not really because of a decline in the economy. When not a lot of people are giving in general, (and I have a great article on why Catholics don’t give), the number one reason is — and I’m reading it right here — people don’t give when there is a decline in community. It’s not about a decline in the economy. It’s about a decline in the community. I recommend that you check out my previous article, on this topic and myth
The second myth is people bemoaning how they live in the wrong area. The“I’m not around a lot of wealthy people” excuse is a myth.I’ve written a great book on identifying who really donates, and the reality is, it doesn’t have to do at all with where you live. In fact, my book highlights who actually donates, and it goes into four things you should look for. (With regards to the people who really donate, you can click the link I provide here). Read that article debunking how donations are tied to where someone lives It is a complete myth. Whether you are in a wealthy neighborhood, a modest neighborhood or neighborhoods that are up and coming, or struggling, it doesn’t really matter. People give because people give. So that’s point number two.
Number three: This concept of worrying that your donors are slowly going away. They’re getting older. They need to be replaced by the young. We have got to tap into the grassroots young people. This is a myth. This is a myth because obviously donors get older, but you’ve got to just go out there and meet other people. Predominantly those ages 40, 50 and 60 because they are going to donate. Younger generations do donate, but not as often or in amounts as generous as the older generations. I’ve provided a great link about them and some statistics so that you can dig in and understand which demographics donate and how. It’s hard to replace older donors with younger donors. If you have donors, just figure out when they started donating, and that gives you a benchmark for who you should be looking for.
One other point is, on average, people, especially Catholics, donate to about four or five organizations. So what does this all mean for you? I want you to make sure that you understand that some people give and some people don’t give. Maybe more people don’t give than some people give. But that’s regardless of external conditions in life, or the economy, or where you live. It’s really all about how strong a community is, so build your community, understand who actually gives in that community (point number two) and then go out and meet people.
I hope this has been helpful in debunking some of the more intimidating myths, and I hope that it’s giving you more confidence to go out and fundraise. If you have any comments, any questions, let me know. Leave a comment. You can contact me at CatholicFundraiser.net. God bless you.
Want to fundraise more for your Catholic apostolate?
Make sure to get your free copy of ‘The 10 Commandment of Catholic Fundraising’. It’s a book that highlights the ten tasks you should do to keep you focused on your mission and hit your fundraising target, every time.
