Planning your giving day? Awesome! But if you look around at examples from other schools, you’ll see there are no shortage of ways to go about it. The tricky part is, schools usually give donors no shortage of ways to contribute.
In theory, giving people a ton of leeway for where their donation goes is great. They get a lot of options and can feel great about the impact of their money.
In actuality, it’s a paradox of choice that can paralyze people to the point that they never convert. Which is not exactly what you’re going for.
Which is why we were so excited to see Kansas State’s razor-sharp focus for their giving day last month. Their giving day was focused on ONE incredibly specific cause: Cat’s Cupboard, an on-campus food pantry that helps battle food insecurity amongst students.
As detailed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, simplifying the ask allowed fundraisers to dive deep on the topic leading up to the giving day. They were able to develop and release educational content that not only promoted the day itself, but shed light on a serious issue donors could have immediate impact on.
The result? You’ll have to check out the article, but let’s just say the fundraising foundation was blown away and they plan to double down on the strategy in the years to come.
(Also, they got our own CEO so fired up along the way he had to get involved and donate.)
This isn’t the first time Kansas State has taken an innovative approach. Click here to read more about their creative campaigns.