Knowing Your Donors

If yours is a listener-supported Christian radio station, or you carry programs that depend on donor support, there’s something you can begin doing today to revolutionize your station’s support-base.

Become passionate about serving your donors.

I believe that God has brought specific donors into the life of our stations “as a trust.” What you and I do with that “trust” will dictate what happens next. If we’re going to be good stewards of the donors God has placed in our hands, we need to know them.

How can we know them? We should ask questions about them like those we ask about our audience. What is it about your station that connects with them and drives their passion for giving? How do you cultivate that relationship and let them know that you really appreciate their support?

Serving donors can be as simple as asking how you can pray for them. For some, they don’t want any special recognition. Find out what makes your donors tick and ignites their passion.

Once we’ve begun to know them better, what they care about and where their greatest needs lie, we can use that knowledge to facilitate a deeper connection between them and us – and between them and God. Those seem like pretty sound priorities, don’t they?

Often the focus gets shifted to wanting to raise money and we forget about the person God uses to provide that money. Do you know your donor’s story? What is it about his or her story that makes them want to be a part of your station’s ministry?

Fundraising expert Marc A. Pittman says in his book Ask Without Fear, “You don’t have to manipulate people. Being yourself and linking your passion for ministry with something they value will be the most effective way to raise lots of money and community support.”

Jon Hull and Larry Castro, KSBJ Mentoring Team