Decades ago (I won’t admit exactly how far back that was!) I made my first donation.

I was a grad student studying political theory at the time (arguably, an intellectual) and I received a direct mail appeal focused on how the seniority system in the US Congress was causing all sorts of bad policy … including funding for the Vietnam war.

I was astonished at the time that any advocacy group might actually perceive this connection, think that changing structure and process was critical to changing the direction of policy, and mount a fundraising campaign around such an esoteric topic.

So, with all that going on in my head, I wrote a check. Moreover, I decided to check out this organization firsthand (websites and online video didn’t exist at the time) and volunteered. After a few weeks I was hired into my first professional job. And that job set me on a path whose subsequent dots are fairly easy to connect.

The organization was Common Cause. The writer of the direct mail letter was Roger Craver.

Yesterday, I made and wrote about my most recent donation, to Possible Health.

A totally different story.

I came across the organization at my own initiative — I found them; they didn’t find me.

My entire discovery and donation process occurred online.

And my donation was entirely emotional. What started as mere curiosity transformed into an emotional commitment.

I didn’t bother to see if they met the approval of charity watchdogs.

I didn’t check out their board members or annual report (information that, of course, is online to review).

I didn’t look at their ‘methodology’ or research their strategy to compare its efficacy against other charities working in the same issue area (also available online).

I responded simply because: a) the problem on which they are focused is one I care about; b) I liked their vibe; c) I sensed competence.

No analysis there. As opposite a ‘purchase decision’ as one could make compared to my Common Cause donation.

Or was it? Isn’t all giving, at bottom, about ‘the vibe’?

Why do your donors give to your organization?

What’s the vibe you’re sending? Are you ready to be found?

Tom