Are small donors better than one big one?

The anonymous author of Don’t Tell the
Donor thinks so. “Low-dollar donors provide an important endorsement that the nonprofit’s work matters. On the other side, all too often it can seem as if major donors are more interested in using their gift to avoid taxes on their wealth or to advance their own social status,” the fund raisier writes.

But Jeremy Gregg, author of The Raiser’s
Razor, points out difficulties with small gifts, too.

Mr. Gregg, director of development at Central Dallas Ministries,
agrees that relying too much on wealthy philanthropists and their
sometimes fickle whims — “the tyranny of the donors,” as he calls it — can be a problem.

But given the administrative burden of sending receipts, processing, and depositing a lot of small gifts, he writes that receiving 2,000 $50 donations can cost at least $6,000.

“If I had to choose between $100,000 from one person vs. $50 from 2,000 people, I would realize that there would be far more
ramifications to my choice than simply the validation of my
organization’s mandate to exist,” he writes.

What do you think? Would you prefer a $100,000 contribution from a single donor or $50 gifts from 2,000 people? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.