Your Affinity Group Isn’t Raising Money: Here’s Why

Most “affinity groups” are NOT affinity groups.

Many United Ways have groups such as Women United, Emerging Leaders, or Retire United. Although United Ways refer to these groups as affinity groups, they are actually donor recognition groups. The purpose of donor recognition groups is to recognize donors who have given to United Way at a certain level. Donor recognition groups typically require a minimum annual contribution to be a member and many United Ways automatically include donors who give at that level or higher in the group – whether they want to be a member or not.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of an affinity group is “a group of people having a common interest or goal or acting together for a specific purpose.” The purpose of a United Way affinity group is creating impact. You can find United Ways with affinity groups organized around a wide variety of issues such as poverty, kindergarten readiness, reading at grade level by third grade, or food insecurity. People join these affinity groups because of their common concern about the issue addressed by the affinity group, not how much money they contributed to United Way.

I would estimate at least 80% of all groups that are called “affinity groups” are actually donor recognition groups. At best, perhaps one out of every five affinity groups are indeed an affinity group.

Donor recognition groups don’t raise money

Think about this for a moment – if you no longer had your donor recognition group, would the donors who gave at the minimum level to be a part of your donor recognition group still give to your United Way? Perhaps there are a couple of donors who might not give at that minimum level, but if your United Way is doing good work in the community I am betting that nearly every donor who is a member of your donor recognition group would still support your United Way. If your donors would continue to support your United Way without your donor recognition group, then your donor recognition group does not raise money, it merely recognizes those who have already given or would have given anyway.

Affinity groups raise money

Affinity groups that are focused on creating impact on a specific issue raise money. There are United Ways large and small with affinity groups that raise $25,000, $50,000, or even $100,000+ a year above and beyond their members’ contribution to United Way because their members are passionate about making an impact in their community. Members of these affinity groups hold a variety of fundraising activities and are often able to secure sponsorships for their work.

The reason these affinity groups are able to raise money is that they are organized and run entirely differently than a donor recognition group. Our upcoming webinar, Maximize Your Affinity Group Membership and Revenue on November 24 covers everything you need to know about operating an affinity group that raises money. We will explain the four essential elements you must have for a successful self-running and self-funded affinity group – elements that are missing from donor recognition groups. We will then show you a simple four-step process for transforming your existing affinity group or creating a new affinity group that will grow your membership and revenue.

Your affinity group should raise money

If you are putting a lot of staff time and effort into a donor recognition group that isn’t raising money, you owe it to yourself to consider transforming your donor recognition group into an affinity group or even starting a new affinity group. Take the first step and join us for our Maximize Your Affinity Group Membership and Revenue webinar on November 24.