Donation Boxes and the Incentives to Donate

Integral to the growth and sustainability of many public, religious, and educational institutions are donations made on site. One of the most common and efficient methods of facilitating the transfer of donations at these various locations is, of course, through donation boxes. In this entry, we’ll show just how important donation boxes can be, and how your institution can take advantage of their strengths.

According to the National Park Service, most zoos, aquariums, planetariums, and public parks feature at least one or two donation boxes for the sole purpose of fundraising – with some institutions pulling in more than $200,000 in a single year. Numbers like this obviously depend on traffic, but it is not traffic alone that generates such results – it is careful consideration of placement, display, incentive, and reputation.

Placement

Donation boxes come in virtually every shape and size, and can therefore appease even the most unaccommodating of venues - though little is worse than a display or advertisement blatantly out of place. Examples of such occurrences are plentiful. My favorite? Those who have logos shaved into their head. Unlike people with the Nike Swoosh on the back of their skull, however, the key to a well-placed marketing display is that it be non-intrusive. It is incredibly detrimental to imply, through placement, that your donation box has more bearing than the event or exhibit for which you’re trying to raise funds. Take a tiger cub exhibit, for example – the best place to put a donation box would not be right at the entrance, or smack dab in the middle in the exhibit, but rather, near the exit. Having the donation box near the exit allows exhibit-goers time to contemplate their philanthropy, without intruding on the experience they came to have. To summarize: place individual donation boxes near specific points of interest, but be sure not make it the first thing people see.

Display

Now you know where you want to put your box, but how are you going to dress it up to incite philanthropy? First and foremost, you must think of your patrons as customers. Therefore, the best piece of advice is never lie about or extend the severity of the point of interest. Your goal is to quickly grab the attention of the donator, and inform him or her in as little words as possible. Make your display aesthetically attractive, appropriately sized, and copy written according to your target customer. Some of the best methods to supplement an already attractive display is to make the donation an activity, having a representative present with the display, or to make the donation a raffle.

Incentive

Your next goal is to ensure that your pleasing and well placed donation box display gives the customer adequate incentive to donate. One can accomplish this by including visible aspirations on the display. Make it full of projections and up-to-date donation totals. If a donator sees both the severity of the situation, and how close you or your institution is to accomplishing a certain goal, they are more likely to assist in the last leg. For example, say your goal is $20,000. Break the goal up into five $4,000 goals that, when reached, yield a specific deliverable. People do not like their donation to get lost in a pool of money whose overall mission is broad or ambiguous.

Reputation

Last but certainly not least, you must make your customers feel like your fundraising activity is being carried out by a reputable team known to deliver. You can prove to your patrons your organization is reputable by advertising specific points of interest that were only possible due to previous donations. To supplement this, contact similar companies or organizations that may be interested in branding their name alongside yours.

Again, the keys to fundraising success via donation boxes is placing your pleasing and informative display in a suitable place, and creating reputable and trustworthy incentives. We hope this entry has given you some ideas to either jumpstart your fundraising endeavors, catalyze a stagnant fundraising campaign, or assist in one that is already rolling.

See you next time.

Tags: brochure holders, donation boxes, incentive to donate, plastic brochure holders, Plastic Products

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Daily Plastic Products News and Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.