A mercenary donor is one who gives to you for some reason that isn’t primarily about agreement with your mission. They may give out of loyalty to a friend, out of a desire for good PR/marketing, or because you happen to be doing something at the tactical level that will have incidental impacts they want.
Organizations often seek mercenary donations and I’d be the last to tell you to avoid them at all costs. But if I have a choice between a mercenary donor – whatever the type — giving me $1,000 and a mission-driven donor giving me $750, I’d take the $750 every time.
Why? Because I’m evaluating the long-term expected value of the donor relationship and not the short-term monetary impact of the donation.
The long-term value of a mission-driven donor is higher for at least two key reasons.
For starters, getting a subsequent gift from them is more likely. And getting a larger gift from them in the future is more likely. You are looking for donors, not donations. The $750 donor may very well turn into $5,000 over the next 4 years if the relationship is handled well. Whether the $1,000 mercenary donation ever turns into a repeat donation depends on factors out of your control.
Aside from this, mission-driven donors are also critical in growing the organization in another way. They are far more likely to turn around and help your organization by reaching out to their friends and colleagues to help you grow your organization. Indeed, part of any well-designed major donor program and/or annual event is precisely the process of turning donors over time into fundraisers and friend-raisers.
So if mercenary donors are less valuable, should you ever seek them? Heck yes. But with a huge yellow caution sign – your programs, events, and strategies should focus on mission-driven donors. And once you’ve created them, it’s okay to sweep in some mercenary donors as cream on the top.