Do you have a fixed mindset, where you believe your talents, character, intelligence, abilities, etc. are born and static?

Or do you have a growth mindset, where you believe those things can be developed?

Research shows if you are the latter, you are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of challenges, put in time and effort, learn from criticism, and have higher levels of achievement.  The growth mindset is a powerful one.

Now, how do you think about your donors?

A fixed donor mindset takes the stance that a donor is what s/he is.  It focuses mostly on the communication.  It views donors as having so many gifts of so much value in them.  The job of fundraising is to get those gifts out.

A growth donor mindset believes that a donor can grow, both in themselves and in their relationship to the organization.  It knows that good experiences make good donors.  Its donors will share their identity because we ask for it and because it will strength our bond.  It will work to prime donors on what their identity means and how it relates to the mission of the organization.  It targets specific communications and opportunities based on that identity and who the donor is.

In short, it believes that committed donors can be created.

The fixed donor mindset isn’t very successful for effectiveness and growth.  The only way you can grow with fixed donors is to increase quantity of donors or of communications.  Maybe you can nibble around the edges with ask string tests and upgrade strategies, but you are limited to ways of extracting more value from the donors you have, not changing their nature and your relationship.

The growth donor mindset, like the growth mindset, isn’t easier.  It’s hard work to ask fundamental questions around why.  It requires rigorous, empirical research.  You will be creating more versions and more types of communication than a spray-and-pray mass market appeal.

But it will be worth it in the long term.  Most donors give to more than one organization.  But the average donor also gives two-thirds of their annual donation to their favorite organization.  That’s going to be the organization that puts in the work to build a relationship; you want that to be you.