Impact

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill,they want a quarter-inch hole.”

This quote, by American economist and Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt, is often used to illustrate that the critical element in selling something is to understand what the customer is looking to achieve. So, as aptly illustrated in this example, it’s not about the drill. It’s about what the drill enables you to do.

Applying this premise to philanthropy forces us to ask what donors are looking to do when they make their gifts to charities. Charitable organizations have a tendency to answer this question through the lens of their activities – participating in programs, attending classes, conducting research, attending concerts, etc. – rather than what is accomplished through these activities. Taking a look at a cross section of charity websites, almost all have a section entitled “What We Do”, yet few have one entitled “Our Impact”. Which, applying Levitt’s principle, is what donors are really looking for.