Why People Don’t Give to My Charitable Cause Background: I am an alumni member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training (TNT). As a TNT participant you raise money that goes to help with the day-to-day needs of leukemia and lymphoma patients and their family. It also funds medical research to develop new cancer drugs. In “exchange” for fundraising you receive coaching to undertake an athletic event such as a half or full marathon, Olympic-distance triathlon, hike or other endurance event. Funds raised by Team in Training participants continue to support research for many of the newest cancer drugs. Team in Training relies on donations from individuals and institutions supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society cause. Minimums for fundraising start around $1,500 for a local event or more than $4,000 for out-of-town events. By tapping into a network of likeminded donators, fundraising for these events can be relatively straightforward, but if you do not find people who support the cause, fundraising becomes increasingly difficult. Here I will breakdown some the reasons why securing donations for a personal cause is never a slam dunk. Reasons People Don’t Give to Charity 1. A small donation is not enough to solve a big problem. 2. Money doesn’t always reach the intended recipient, how can you tell if giving is effective? 3. Reputation of organization is questionable or people have a prior bad experience giving. 4. Giving wasn’t successful in achieving the goal in the past, so why is this time any different? 5. Why should giving to this cause be my responsibility? 6. No one has the right to tell me how or in what way to give. 7. Personal finances are tight and there’s nothing extra to give. 8. Giving someone something doesn’t solve the problem, they need to work for it to avoid dependency. 9. I have enough to worry about in my own life. Making the Personal Impersonal One of the most difficult parts of fundraising for a particular cause is that typically there is a personal and emotional connection for participating. Each donation feels like a confirmation of your reason for supporting the cause. When this doesn’t happen, the denial can get twisted into something personal. Like it or not, there is often a feeling of betrayal if a person you care about is not supporting your cause, and in extension it can feel like a negation of your core beliefs. In these instances it’s difficult to separate the personal relationship from the supported cause. At these moments, it’s important to realize the decision to give or not give can be just as personal for giver as it is the receiver. One of the scenarios that makes a donation denial easier to accept is if you know the financial situation of the potential giver. I think in this case, our altruism for the person we intimately know is greater than the group of potentially unknown people we are fundraising for. Peter
Singer, ethicist and author of the book The Life you Can Save, supports this concept by saying individuals are more moved by the plight of a single person than a general need. Although it’s none of our business, there’s a perception that giving should take place if finances aren’t in question. What we often don’t consider is the charitable giving opportunity may not meet the individual’s criteria in a number of ways. The assumption that someone “should” do one thing instead of another often backfires. In a case where the person is a survivor of a disease or has a family member or friend that’s a survivor, there’s the assumption they will want to give. On the flip side, perhaps the person doesn’t believe in the cause or doesn’t want a reminder of associations with the cause. It also might be particularly hard to give if the request for a donation reminds them of the loss of a loved one. Remembrance does not happen in the same way for everyone. Indebtedness and Guilt As independent beings, we pride ourselves on the ability to make our own decisions. Acceptance of this decision from a societal view depends on if a personal choice lines up with the norm. Instead of getting to play the independence card, we often receive the guilt card, or the shame card where it’s easier to go along with expectations. Giving through guilt creates a potentially uncomfortable situation where the favor will be called in, usually at an inopportune time. Coercing someone out of guilt or shame provides the perfect reason to avoid that person the next time. Why would anyone choose to do or not do something if there will be grief as a result of either decision? Similarly, if an anticipated outpouring of gratitude doesn’t materialize, that can be another deal-breaker for giving in the future. For some, these distasteful situations could become a blanket reason to avoid giving to all charities. This is similar to when civic organizations choose to stop providing space for groups. If the community doesn’t want to host a particular group, it’s easier to say no to all groups. Figuring out the Why Hearing the word no is hard any time. Many of us wonder why something does or doesn’t happen, but we often don’t have the guts to ask why. I think this is because in asking there is the potential for multiple disappointments. The first being no donation, but this can usually be offset through another giver and/or a larger donation. For me, the bigger risk in asking why is the discovery of a lack of shared values or a finding that could change the relationship altogether (disagreement on principles or morals). Obviously a “simple” conversation might be all it takes to clear this up, but it’s a potentially scary conversation with irrevocable outcomes. In the end, I think it is up to the individual to weigh the risks. Is it worse to potentially find yourself emotionally incongruent with a potential donor or is it more important to put aside personal feelings to raise funds for the greater cause?