Making the case for donations to professional associations

In the process of designing a professional association’s website, I’ve been looking at other association websites for research. Many of them have a prominent “Make a Donation”  button somewhere, but when you land on the donation pages themselves, there’s rarely much of an attempt to make a case for why you’d  want to donate.  

Maybe the assumption is that members already know why they’d want to donate. They already know how those donations are used and who they help, right? 

I’d guess that most members don’t know. And prospective members definitely don’t. 

The thing is, there is a good case for making a donation to (as in this case) an association for educators. Donations might support membership fees for graduate students and adjuncts who aren’t eligible for professional development reimbursements. Or conference travel scholarships for speakers or faculty whose institutions won’t cover these costs. I think these could be compelling stories to tell, especially about how membership has impacted someone’s career, built their confidence, or gave them a sense of community.

I did find a pretty good example on an association’s donation page that explains how contributions support scholarships. They make their case, in part, with this helpful chart:

As I did a little more research, I came across an article by Valentina Echeverria, AVP at CCS Fundraising, who encourages associations to leverage emotion-based messaging when making the case for donations: 

 “Association foundations should appeal to the pride that members feel in their profession and their emotional connection to their associations to encourage donations. An important message to convey is that charitable support to the foundation is an investment in the future of the profession because it will fund initiatives to support the next generation of professional leaders.”

She also recommends tapping your most influential members to help with your fundraising efforts, since they’re capable of capturing members’ attention. In terms of donation pages, that might look like including a quote or appeal from a well-respected member on your donation page. 

It’s also important to include messaging that helps your members understand why they might make a charitable contribution if they’re already paying membership dues. Let them know how donations are used to support broader initiatives that your membership dues don’t cover.

I would extend that advice to other key pages on your website, too. How you use donations can make compelling content for your home and about pages, particularly if you share an individual’s story (and even better, a photo) that connects to your members’ passion for their chosen fields and desire to shape the future of their industries.

Get more advice in Association Foundation Fundraising: Eight Fundamental Tips.