Community-Centric vs. Donor-Centric Fundraising

Several years ago, the non-profit advocate Vu Le began to promote a radical transformation in fundraising as a means to improve equity in society. The approach, known as community-centric fundraising (CCF), now has many followers and aspires to transform fundraising and philanthropy so that they are co-grounded in racial and economic justice. Over the last few years, a debate has intensified in the non-profit and philanthropic world about whether we should replace the stalwart donor-centric fundraising model with this new approach. 

Donor-centric fundraising (DCF) is built on creating long-term and trusting relationships with donors. Fundraisers understand what their donors want and engage with them as people, not ATMs. This approach produces excellent results and creates giving experiences that are rewarding for donors and fundraisers. But fundraisers and other non-profit professionals question whether donors, whose wealth can sometimes be traced to practices that perpetuate racism, inequity, and harm to the planet, should remain at the center of our work. They claim that donor-centric fundraising ignores community voices and promotes white saviorism, among other critiques. Are community-centric and donor-centric fundraising conflicting philosophies? 

The Traditional Donor-Centric Approach 

Donor-centered fundraising is an integrated and collaborative approach to raising money that inspires donors to remain loyal longer, to make more generous gifts, and to shift their giving from modest to generous sooner. DCF thrives when an organization has a clear mission, well-defined philanthropic priorities, and a gift acceptance policy that makes it okay to say "no" to gifts that don't align with its priorities and values. Importantly, donor-centric fundraising acknowledges that giving is an emotional act, motivated by a range of needs and experiences. 

With this in mind, donor-centric fundraisers believe it is essential to personalize donor experiences and build donor loyalty over time. This process may involve including donors in the decision-making process, creating nurture campaigns, communicating with email drips, and having multiple touch points with donors at different stages of their donor journey. 

Donor-centered fundraising has also stood the test of time and has been depended upon to rake in large sums of consistent funding. So it is no surprise that this method of fundraising is prevalent in the non-profit sector. But for all the successes that have been attributed to this fundraising approach, some non-profit professionals believe that it doesn’t align with their organization’s desire to be more inclusive. And that brings us to the new fundraising approach: community-centric fundraising. 

CCF: The New Kid on the Block 

Community-centric fundraising, also known as community-centered fundraising, emphasizes the need for non-profits to be aware and conscious of diverse communities and peoples in their campaign development process and outreach activities. It involves prioritizing the needs, interests, and motivations of a community of donors, beneficiaries, and stakeholders over individual donors and supporters. 

More so, community-centric fundraisers tend to be advocates for diversity, equality, and inclusion in the non-profit decision-making process. Such an approach is believed to help make non-profit work and outcomes more transformative and impactful. Instead of personalizing individual donor experiences, this approach regards and accounts for the differences between and within the communities the non-profit serves. 

Community Centric Fundraising’s website outlines action items to help non-profit organizations implement this fundraising approach. It acknowledges that community-centered fundraising isn’t a one-size-fits-all model, so this approach might look different in different organizations. 

As more fundraisers learn more about community-centric fundraising, there has been some push-back from professionals due to the limited research on the success of this approach. Some non-profit professionals believe that community-centric fundraising disregards the roles donors play to make fundraising campaigns successful and that this could lead to low donor retention rates. 

The Stop Community Food Centre: A Case Study 

The Stop Community Food Centre is a Toronto-based mid-sized non-profit that provides emergency food access, community building programs, and urban agriculture. It has recently worked to audit its fundraising methods to adopt a CCF approach and to move away from donor-centric fundraising. 

First, the Centre reimagined engagement by minimizing transactional recognition for donors. It treats donors not only as funders, but as partners in its work who also benefit from meaningfully supporting the community. It removed online donor walls and eliminated most public recognition. It now sends donors personalized videos, invites them to sign petitions, and provides education on the community's top public policy concerns. It does not shy away from having difficult conversations around the origins of a donor's wealth, anti-racism and anti-oppression work, systemic barriers, tax evasion, wealth hoarding, white supremacy, power dynamics, colonialism, and more. 

Beyond this, the Centre has moved away from elitist events. Only a few years ago, the organization raised 25 per cent of its revenue through signature events like galas – events that were not designed to include large segments of the community. It took the pandemic as an opportunity to pause and rethink why it did events the way it did. Meanwhile, it asked its supporters to make up the revenue gap and they stepped up, leading to a 55 per cent increase in revenue in a year-over-year comparison. 

Once the Centre reimagined its donor engagement strategy, it turned to its service users, surveying 200 people on the most pressing issues for the organization to tackle. It used this information to advocate publicly, connect with organizations addressing these issues, and send letters to representatives. It then piloted its first community fund, raising $50,000 – $25,000 that went to the Food Centre and $25,000 to an organization chosen by its program participants. The organization chosen works to address an identified public policy priority, in this case affordable housing. Both grants were given without restrictions. 

The Centre has experienced significant success. Fiscal year 2022 was its strongest fundraising year ever. It collaborated with non-profit partners, raised the number of gifts and dollars, solidified its first million-dollar gift, and raised $400,000 above the previous year. The organization has a renewed commitment to pursue a more equitable way to tell stories with dignity, engage its audiences, and push for systemic change. 

Conclusion 

The two fundraising concepts, CCF and DCF, highlight methods and philosophies used by fundraisers to create fundraising plans and interact with their donors and supporters. They are the basis for each non-profit organization’s marketing, communications, outreach, and fundraising strategies. The key difference between both approaches is that donor-centric fundraising focuses on personalizing the donor experience while community-centric fundraising focuses on engaging and accounting for differences within communities. 

So. Are community-centric and donor-centric fundraising conflicting philosophies? It is really not necessary to sacrifice one to achieve the other. Rather, we can and should continue to practice donor-centric fundraising, while involving our donors in our work as we strive to make our organizations more equitable and just. Fundraisers for all causes can work with donors to advance equity. But efforts will only be successful if leaders, starting with the CEOs and boards of non-profits, commit to making their organizations as a whole more community-centric. It starts by ensuring that their missions benefit the people they serve and that resources are available to engage in thoughtful, in-depth conversations with community leaders and members about their needs. It should also include publicly sharing detailed plans for how they will do right by their tax-exempt status through participating in genuine social change. After all, the argument that donor-centric fundraising crowds-out community voices is only true if the organization never listened to community members in the first place. Leadership must create a culture where the needs of those in communities are listened to and acted upon. They can begin by giving donors the opportunity to directly support equity efforts related to the organization's mission and promoting such giving options in donor communications. 

For further information 

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About ViTreo 

ViTreo is a full-service fundraising and nonprofit leadership development firm. We have extensive expertise in every area of major gift fundraising and philanthropy. We offer a clear approach in an industry that can be overwhelming and often overcomplicated. 

ViTreo Group has over a century of combined consulting experience with expertise in major campaign planning and management, talent acquisition, naming rights, nonprofit governance, stakeholder engagement, and leadership development. We provide timely, creative and strategic advice to clients in the public and nonprofit sectors. We are proud to have worked with hundreds of organizations from health, education, arts and culture, recreation, and social service to the environment. 

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