Philanthropy is all about connection. Donors aren’t just going to open their wallets because you ask them to. They need to feel like their contributions make a difference. They need to be able to see, hear, or verify the outcome of their gift. According to our Voices for Good research, donors believe their gifts made a difference when outcomes are tangible, personal, and verifiable—not abstract. That’s why it’s critical to build and maintain a connection between your organization’s impact and your donor base.
In this Viewpoint, we will explore tactics that help foster connections between your organization and donors, ensuring they feel and see the impact of their gifts and continue to give for years to come.
One of the most confidence-building experiences an organization can make is to link a donor’s specific gift to a visible result: a family fed, a child treated, an animal rescued. That direct traceability matters more than abstract efficiency. People are far more likely to donate—and to keep donating—to organizations where impact is tangible. Voices for Good found that food banks and local shelters stand out precisely because they make the end result clear: the donor can imagine what their contribution accomplished. When donors know that their gift has an immediate and concrete impact, that creates a visual pathway for their gift. You’ll see this often when organizations say something like, “For every $20 donated, 40 meals are given to local families.”
Another contributing factor to the visibility is local connection. We’ve already talked about donor preference towards local organizations, and this is because they can more immediately see the impact of their gifts–right in their backyard. Voices for Good also found that rich storytelling, filled with evidence and emotion, are great ways to sustain belief in your organization’s impact. But, this only works when you mix storytelling with concrete data. A fluffy, feel-good piece that doesn’t include photos, reports and results of gifts won’t work long term.
Lastly, building the connection between gifts and impact goes beyond the donation transaction itself. Say goodbye to generic thank you emails, unquantified “progress” claims, or appeals that lack closure and lead donors to question whether their contribution mattered. It’d be like reading a story that had no final chapter. Close the loop by personalizing your outreach and letting your donors know how their gift made a difference.
Donors don’t just want proof that money was spent responsibly; they want evidence that it worked. They gain confidence when organizations make outcomes visible and personal: food on tables, children healed, animals rescued, and communities improved. The lesson is simple: belief in impact follows visibility. And donations will follow.
To better understand today’s nonprofit donor, download our Voices for Good report.
Voices for Good, Brand Federation’s inaugural index that benchmarks donor behaviors and motivators, has uncovered a wealth of insights that create a picture of today’s nonprofit donor. Generated from the insights of over 500 nonprofit donors from around the country, Voices for Good provides nonprofit leaders and executives with proven findings and tangible action items for navigating the economic uncertainty of today, ensuring that donor relations and expectations aren’t just met, but exceeded.
Brand Federation fielded 512 in‑depth, semi‑structured interviews on EmpathixAI’s CultureChat
platform. Built and overseen by PhD‑trained social scientists, CultureChat conducted large‑N qualitative interviews using a 17‑question guide that blended open‑ and closed‑ended prompts. Interviews totaled 213 hours of conversation. Transcripts were systematically coded and cataloged, combining expert-designed code frames with model-assisted classification to generate structured aggregates and prevalence estimates, which were reported in the Voices for Good Report. This approach preserves qualitative richness (what donors say and why) while enabling statistically defensible summaries across key demographics (e.g., gender, age, income, education, and religion/denomination).
Rian Chandler-Dovis is an accomplished researcher and brand strategist with two decades of experience helping organizations define what they stand for and deliver meaningful experiences. She has developed strategies for some of the world’s best-known brands, including MIT, Harvard Medical School, GM, American Express, Mercy Corps, Samsung, PepsiCo, the World Wildlife Fund, AB InBev, and Colgate.
