You guessed it -- I'm working on the 2019 incentives. But you'll never guess the data I have to work with this year.
I know that sounds suspiciously like clickbait, but this is a pretty short blog entry. It's also straightforward and I don't make any money off of any ads you may see on this page. Thanks for coming to read the entry, and I hope you'll be kind enough to give some feedback.
You see, I haven't figured out much for my incentives this year. I had a great line-up last year and I'm still working on delivering them to all of you lovely people. I've been struggling for weeks now to come up with an equally good line-up for 2019 without being repetitive or dull. Thanks to some comments from my Team Veterans, I acknowledged that most of my donors are my age or older. That statement made me curious to find out the exact numbers, so I pulled up last year's donor list and made myself a chart.
That's right. A full 2/3 of my fundraising was made possible by people over the age of 50. That makes it a little more challenging to find incentives that are appropriate for my donors. I think it's clear that last year's donations didn't necessarily happen because of my incentive list, but because people wanted to support the cause and help sick kids. This leaves me with a distinct choice to make, I think -- do I repeat last year's model of incentives and try to appeal to a younger set of donors, or do I adjust my incentives to retain and appeal to the older demographic?
Some people might try to label this as bribery. I'm here to inform you that when it comes to fundraising, it's always a matter of bribery if people aren't wanting to throw money at your cause without some kind of incentive. It's a truth I've learned in my 7 years of Extra Life (and longer experience raising funds for various causes and projects). People are more inclined to donate if they get something neat in return -- either to show they've donated, or just to make them feel better about parting with money.
My question to you readers and supporters is direct and personal: What would I have to offer as an incentive to guarantee a donation to Extra Life from you this year? Please feel free to comment with your answer, because I could really use some direction!
Did this data surprise you as much as it surprised me? Do you think this says anything about the supporters of Extra Life, or is it simply the Gamer Reverie/snarkqueen audience I've accumulated over the years? I know I'm not hip enough to keep the attention span of the Fork-knife kiddies, but I'm certainly not discussing the classic old school games that I mostly missed out on, either. I may never know these answers, but it certainly gives me a lot to think about as I try to get things in motion for another successful fundraising year!
That's right. A full 2/3 of my fundraising was made possible by people over the age of 50. That makes it a little more challenging to find incentives that are appropriate for my donors. I think it's clear that last year's donations didn't necessarily happen because of my incentive list, but because people wanted to support the cause and help sick kids. This leaves me with a distinct choice to make, I think -- do I repeat last year's model of incentives and try to appeal to a younger set of donors, or do I adjust my incentives to retain and appeal to the older demographic?Some people might try to label this as bribery. I'm here to inform you that when it comes to fundraising, it's always a matter of bribery if people aren't wanting to throw money at your cause without some kind of incentive. It's a truth I've learned in my 7 years of Extra Life (and longer experience raising funds for various causes and projects). People are more inclined to donate if they get something neat in return -- either to show they've donated, or just to make them feel better about parting with money.
Did this data surprise you as much as it surprised me? Do you think this says anything about the supporters of Extra Life, or is it simply the Gamer Reverie/snarkqueen audience I've accumulated over the years? I know I'm not hip enough to keep the attention span of the Fork-knife kiddies, but I'm certainly not discussing the classic old school games that I mostly missed out on, either. I may never know these answers, but it certainly gives me a lot to think about as I try to get things in motion for another successful fundraising year!
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