Building Trust

In a previous article, entitled “Conquering the Fear of Asking” I wrote about some tools solicitors can use to put their emotions to work for them. As a fundraiser, quieting fear and building confidence are important steps to success. Fundraising, though, is a two-way street. It is not enough for a solicitor to be in the proper frame of mind. They must also create the proper emotional response in the mind of the prospect. Trust is the ultimate goal in any solicitation. Once you have the person’s trust, you will most likely have a positive response.

Your group’s reputation will provide an initial level of trust and will often be what gets you in the door to meet with a prospect. First and foremost, then, building trust in your prospects begins with building a reputation as an organization providing a critical service in an efficient manner. Financial accountability has a great deal of influence over this as well. Non-profits are expected to be frugal. If the community perceives your group as operating on a shoestring, without any wasted funds, they will know their gift will be used wisely.

This operational efficiency is not just a responsibility of the fundraising staff. This is one area in which every employee and board member helps the development staff. Everyone shares the responsibility of helping the organization to function in the most efficient manner possible. Furthermore, good public relations builds trust in the public eye. If your organization is repeatedly written up in the local paper for its accomplishments, you will have a leg up on the organization that labors in obscurity.

Much of the responsibility for building trust falls on the solicitation team meeting with the prospect. There are lots of reasons why people make major contributions to charity. The most influential factor is that people believe their contribution will change other people’s lives for the better. As a solicitor, I believe I have never failed to get a positive response when I was able to effectively communicate the impact a donor’s gift will make. Of course, every major gift solicitation points out the positive impact the gift would have. The question is, as odd as it seems, does the prospect believe you? Do they trust you? A solicitation gives us just a few minutes to build that emotion to a crescendo.

There are some specific things a solicitor can do to help create that sense of trust in the prospect. First and foremost, the solicitor must be a donor. As we say, “You can’t sell soap if you don’t take showers.” While a potential donor may be willing to follow a solicitor’s example of generosity, they are unlikely to blaze a trail where the solicitor has been unwilling to go.

The solicitor should also have a comprehensive knowledge of the organization and project. If the prospect perceives a lackadaisical approach on the part of the solicitor, they will be less likely to put their trust in the campaign. The prospect is asking themselves, “Does this really seem important enough to warrant a substantial investment of my money?” If it does not seem important to the solicitor, it will never become important to the prospect.

Another powerful tool for building trust is a willingness to listen. If the solicitor does all the talking, the prospect has no opportunity to voice his or her own concerns and thoughts. We have all heard about listening being a critical communication tool. Nowhere is this truer than in fundraising. An effective solicitor should talk for several minutes, laying out a clear case for support, and then sit back and listen. The prospect will talk about what is important to them and what points the solicitor needs to emphasize in order to build their trust.

A donor’s sense of trust will be much greater if they arrive at a positive decision themselves, rather than being led to it. An effective solicitor will steer a prospect toward an internal decision to trust an organization and contribute a gift. For instance, is it better to tell a prospect why an organization is so critical, or ask that person to voice their belief of the group’s importance? If they speak the words, it becomes a statement, an affirmation. Now they are convincing themselves.

Superior fundraising efforts often distinguish themselves by the amount of follow up work that is done. This contributes to a donor’s level of trust. Once the connection is established through a contribution, the organization must keep that donor informed and invested through an active stewardship program. While the decision to contribute has already indicated a willingness on the part of the donor to trust the organization, that stewardship will be the first step in building a level of trust for the next gift.

Trust is a very personal emotion, and it takes a very personal approach to foster that feeling in a prospective donor. By concentrating on building the proper emotions in a prospective donor, we increase our chances for success. People want to be generous; they want to place their trust in organizations they respect. It is our job as fundraisers to lead them toward a level of comfort that their investment will be used wisely for the greater good.