Critics Are Wrong: The Donor Pyramid Works

Compass President Rob Bull shares his perspective with The Chronicle of Philanthropy and asserts that when used correctly, donor pyramids and gifts charts are valuable fundraising tools.

This is my 30th year in fundraising. I’m at a stage in my life and career when I value the original methods but balance that by embracing the new and innovative.

That’s why I appreciated the many perspectives about the donor pyramid presented in Drew Lindsay’s article “The Donor Pyramid May Be Bad for Giving. Can We Do Better?” (September 6), but I feel the piece may confuse readers in two ways. First, the donor pyramid isn’t a fundraising model. It’s a reactive tool to graphically represent an organization’s giving constituency at a moment in time. Fundraising professionals should use it to assess where their contributions are coming from and to plan for the future. It’s not a “crumbling relic” that “doesn’t work,” as the article states.

The pyramid’s purpose isn’t to push individual donors up to higher levels of giving. That’s like looking at a scale and assuming your weight can only increase. It’s simply a snapshot in time.

Many fundraising professionals look at the data and ask themselves questions such as: Where are our largest numbers of donors? Is that where we should be as an organization? How has it changed? Are we staffed appropriately in the right places?

Of those interviewed for the article, I think Michael Worth, professor of nonprofit management at George Washington University, most accurately assesses the issue when he notes that the donor pyramid is meant to serve as a planning tool but not as a theory of donor behavior.

The second area of confusion relates to nomenclature. Many fundraising professionals use the terms “gifts chart” and “donor pyramid” interchangeably, possibly because they’re both triangular.

While the pyramid focuses on the present, the gifts chart helps project the future. It’s a proactive tool that utilizes a scientific methodology to predict aspirational giving outcomes and aid in campaign planning. The gifts chart has been used for about 100 years and will likely be used for another 100 because of its critical role in a fundraising campaign.

In his book The Spirit of Philanthropy, Frank Pisch, the founder of the Compass Group, which I lead, outlines how the gifts chart is about winning a fundraising campaign on paper — showing a path forward so a nonprofit understands what it needs to do and where to invest its energy.

“I was terrified of a campaign,” one large nonprofit executive director told me. “Our organization’s reputation was on the line, and so was mine. After seeing the gifts chart, I understood what we needed to do and how we could be successful. It took a huge multi-million-dollar goal and made it digestible for me, our leadership team, and our board.”

Given its essential role in campaign planning, it’s imperative that we don’t dismiss the gifts chart as a valuable and enduring tool.

One aspect of the article that I wholeheartedly agree with is the importance of the donor relationship. Engaging constituents is what fundraising is all about. The profession has developed a set of tools and best practices that allow fundraisers to take a strategic approach. The donor pyramid and gifts chart aren’t intended to shift the importance of human connection to simply pursuing financial transactions. Let’s not miss the point.