Site icon proposalforNGOs

All About Individual Donors

Beneficiaries

Individual donors include the millions of people and families who donate through penny drives, volunteering, or even multi-million dollar endowments. While the typical individual contribution is small, the numbers add up quickly. In 2016 alone, individual giving totaled $280 billion dollars in the United States –  nearly 5 times more than all US foundations gave that same year.

Individuals and families willingly give away their money for many reasons. The largest motivator for individual giving is religion, but personal satisfaction, societal obligation, and an emotional stake in the cause are also important influences. Individuals by and large give to organizations they feel a connection to. Unlike institutional donors, individuals rarely  analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a project proposal. Instead, they tend to respond better to personal stories and testimonials rather than full proposals. These generalities tend to hold true no matter if asking for very small or very large donations, so marketing towards individuals should take these considerations into account.

Donations from individuals can be great sources of unrestricted funding for NGOs. A strong base of small donations can cover core costs other donors may be unwilling to pay for. No proposals needed! Fundraising from individual community members is also how many NGOs get their initial funding. But expanding and sustaining an NGO’s network of individual donors beyond the local community can be much more difficult. This is a reason why many larger NGOs choose to focus more resources on submitting proposals for new projects.

Tips for Approaching Individuals

Exit mobile version