Building Donor Trust For Your Non-Profit Organization

Donors won’t give if they don’t completely trust your organization. They have to emotionally invest in your cause before they financially invest, and the bridge between the two is built on trust, accessibility and accountability. How do you build that bridge?

Tiffany Bentley, writer for The Express Times, wrote an article to help donors know whether the non-profit they wish to donate to is legitimate.  There is some good information in this article to help charities create a platform to cater to their donors and to show their integrity and success.

The first step is to allow donors into certain records. Bentley explains, “Dolores Laputka, law partner at Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus in Allentown, specializes in business and estate law with a sub-specialty working with non-profit organizations. She says the best way to dig into an organization is to check out their 990 form — which all non-profits are required to file with the IRS — that shows a breakdown of expenditures, including salaries of top executives running the company. The website, guidestar.org offers this information free of cost.

“’You can immediately see if they are legitimate and see what kind of organization they are,’ she says. She says that many non-profits have even begun using their 990 as a marketing tool to show how their dollars are used, in comparison to other charities.”

Secondly, it’s important to focus on logic and emotions. Yes, a lot of time the heart strings are attached to the purse strings, but if the funds aren’t specifically allocated and facts don’t back up figures, that sends up a big red flag. Your present decisions impact your future campaigns.

Time is one of the biggest factors towards building trust. Sometimes, it can take a while to see results, develop a strong reputation and gain the trust of future donors. It also takes time to polish your website and create a social media presence, while promoting and growing your online fundraising campaigns. All of these aspects are priceless and are worth the wait.