Individuals, beginning in 2017 - and I'm really talking about the folks who generally give the $25 to $1000 annual gifts, are now going to be put to the test around the theory that individuals are not motivated by taxes to make a contribution.
We should first be reminded that the $25-$100 annual givers are the long-term sustainability strategy focus of nonprofits who work the pyramid model of donor development: get prospects in-the-door as event givers or respondents to an direct mail appeal and convert them to annual givers at higher level of gifts over time and eventually as major gift and even deferred or "will" givers.
With a tax deduction taken off the table, what then must be the incentive for individuals to give (yes, there is a deduction but only after the much bigger deductible)? I pose that what nonprofit boards must wrestle with is fully understanding what it is that truly motivates an individual to support a particular issue, cause or service. I pose further that what nonprofits must now really focus on "selling" is the story about change should a gift be made - donors will not (nor I necessarily think they really did) buy services but instead, results as demonstrated though stories. And the stories need be meaningful to the target donor tapping into their experience via kin or folks they encounter daily or situations (status quo) that they are not happy with.
Yes, soliciting should continue to be about "me" and my desire to change the status quo or at least what I think is an unsatisfactory status quo. What has moved board members to serve on boards needs to be recognized and highlighted to those who would be donors. The alternative of course is the design of events and activities and experiences that prospects will want to experience despite the cause (or seeing the cause as an extra benefit).
The time for just asking and expecting a "yes" are even more over than they have been if they were ever. Nonprofits must increase their understanding of who wants to invest in what the nonprofit has to offer now recognizing that tax deductions are not the correct answer.