This article from Little Bean Group guides you to ask deeper, more personal questions that help uncover donors’ stories, motivations, and impact-driven values. You will learn how thoughtful questioning leads to richer relationships and stronger gifts.

You hear it all the time—storytelling is important in fundraising. We can make the case that donations are needed to fight hunger, but if you tell a family’s story—who they are, their circumstances, their struggles—the imperative to give becomes much stronger. Personal stories inspire empathy and action, and give a donor a stronger connection to your cause.

However, do we think in these terms when we learn our donors’ stories? We often ask our supporters fairly direct questions, such as how they connected with our organization and how they approach charitable giving. But what can we ask them to drive deeper connections, to give us a more holistic sense of their personal narrative? Just as we are intentional about telling the story of our organization’s mission, we need to be intentional about learning our donors’ stories.

The best way to drive this deeper connection is to ask open-ended questions and focus on intentional listening. This practice helps us forge a personal connection and can also change our perspectives on how to grow relationships with donors.

Here are three of my favorite questions to ask donors to achieve a full picture of who they are and what resonates with them. I’ve also included some ideas on what to listen for to help with intentionality in conversations.

Question 1: Have the last few years brought changes to your life?
Goal: To learn how extraordinary recent events may have changed your donor’s perspective and future plans.
Listen For: How has your donor been personally impacted by the pandemic? Has this changed their philanthropic priorities? Is there a new problem that your donor feels especially compelled to help solve? Even if this falls entirely out of the scope of your organization’s work, pay attention to get an idea of what gets your donor fired up.

Question 2: How long have you lived here?
Goal: To learn if your donor is rooted to one place, which may make up a large part of their identity, or if they have moved frequently for professional or personal reasons.
Listen For: Even if your organization does not have a locally-focused mission, gaining knowledge of your donor’s sense of place and rootedness to their community can provide an enormous amount of information about what shapes their values. If you get lucky and share some personal geography, embrace it! In a world where people move frequently, encountering someone from the same corner of the world is a valuable connection point.

Question 3: What interests you about “that”?
Goal: To learn about their passions, what drives their intellectual curiosity, and what shapes their personality. Their answers can point you toward the best avenues for engaging them with your cause.
Listen For: “That” can be anything that your donor has mentioned during your conversations—personal or professional. Does your donor mention a passion or skill that brought them to where they are in life? Are hobbies or sports particularly important to them? Could these pursuits have particular value to your organization? This question can also yield information about someone’s broader personality. Do they enjoy solo or group activities? Is it important for them to belong to organizations or excel professionally?

When asking these questions, remember to give your donor plenty of space to respond. I hope that these will be useful in your conversational toolkit, and yield valuable information to help you connect on a deeper level with your donors. The bottom line is that ours is a relationship-focused business—taking extra steps to engage with your donors will yield genuine connections to bolster your organization’s mission.

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