# The search for meaningful response

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/02/26/search-meaningful-response/
- Published: 2008-02-26T18:18:45+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

What drives legacy fundraising in the UK? The search for meaningful response, thats
what. Nothing wrong with that then – except maybe its who is driving that response
and why that appears to be the problem.

For years now, the legacy world has by and large been obsessed with pledges. If 
a donor tells us they have a) left a gift or b) going to, then we put another notch
on the totem. Fundraisers are staisfied. Everyone is happy. Except,it appears the
donor. Research, lots of feedback and focus groups tell us that donors by and large
hate letting on, they still think its private and they distrust our motives. As 
many of our gifts are from people we have never met the cunning donor seems content
to ignore our best efforts. The disconnect between our experience, the donors world
and our continued practice are startling. So, is our search for meaningful response
driven by a marketing approach that is out of date? Isn’t a fundraising approach–
a major giving approach more appropriate here than a direct marketing one? And what
if we let that inform and reinvent the marketing way?

Its time to be brave. Donors want something else. Charities need something else.

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