The Five Reasons Listeners Don't Donate ... and How to Overcome Them!

If you read enough books and listen to enough tapes on the topic of sales, motivation and fundraising, you'll find a lot of references to the "five reasons customers don't buy". The five reasons why customers don’t buy are:

1. no need
2. no hurry
3. no money
4. no want, and
5. no trust

Below is an explanation of each one and how they apply to us in a fundraising situation.

The key to all of them is to always remember: People donate for their reasons, not our reasons.

People will shell out the money when they have a reason to and not before. That reason has to be more than the fact that we need the money. No listener really cares how badly we need the money. They need personally relevant reasons to give their hard-earned cash to WRUW.

Reason #1 Reason: No Need

EVEN THOUGH we are not "selling" our premiums as the reason to donate, let's acknowledge the moose on the table in front of us ... (read more)

Reason #2 Reason: No Hurry

Your challenge during the fundraiser is to create a sense of urgency to donate “right now, while you’re thinking about it” ... (read more)

Reason #3 Reason: No Money (the big LIE)

The excuse of “no money” is usually a big hairy lie. If your listeners truly had “no money”, they wouldn’t have a radio to listen to your show with. They wouldn’t have ... (read more)

Reason #4 Reason: No Want

If people want something badly enough, they will move heaven and earth to get it. They will obsess, lose sleep, and (depending on their personal ethics) they will lie, cheat, and steal to get it. ... (read more)

Reason #5 Reason: No Trust

Unfortunately, radio is a one-way medium, so we can never really SEE our listeners’ reactions to what we say during the fundraiser. We never see how we lose trust and credibility during the telethon. You can’t see your listeners turn off the radio when you say ... (read more)