Only one
in $20 donated in 2013 went to the arts, culture, and the humanities, but the 16.66 billion dollars represented a boost of 7.8% from the prior year. The Wall Street Journal reports that
religious organizations and causes get the most donations, accounting for
nearly one in three dollars donated.
Over 100 billion dollars flowed to religion last year. Education received half of that amount.
So
which sectors get the most donations?
1.
Religious
2.
Educational
3.
Human
Services
4.
Foundations
5.
Health
6.
Public
Society Benefit
7.
Arts,
Culture, Humanities
8.
International
Affairs
9.
Environment
and Animals
One may
wonder which is more important – saving lives or merely improving them? Should more money be given for life-death
matters – or should it be invested in improving the lives of others? Should donations merely benefit a few people in a significant way or many, but on a lesser level?
For the
arts, humanities, and culture, I can see many ways donations help museums and
institutions to thrive or survive.
There’s no end to what can be done to service the needs or desires of
the population. Just look at books.
We could
donate money to help libraries, museum exhibits, and organizations to provide
more books, resources, and support staff.
We could buy books for the underprivileged, hire tutors to address
literacy, and fund writers’ grants.
16
billion and change seems like nothing, considering what our government spends
money on. One billionaire, like Michael
Bloomberg, could single-handedly fund what was given last year for the arta, books,
and cultural groups – and still have billions left over. Maybe that’s what we should do – get a new
billionaire each year to invest in the arts and then find another to fund the following
year and so forth. He could pay for all
of the books consumers bought from Barnes & Noble this year - and still have billions of dollars
available to fulfill his whims.
Have you
contributed to the arts and humanities?
What are you waiting for? Below
are the most common reasons high-net-worth households gave for opening their
wallets in 2013:
74.9%
believe their gift can make a difference
73%
received personal satisfaction from giving
66% like
to support the same cause/organization annually
63% want
to give back to their community
62% gave
to groups they volunteer at or serve on the board for
50% give
because of political or philosophical beliefs
45% seek
to remedy an issue that affected them or those close to them
44% gave
as a spontaneous reaction to those in need
40% gave
because of religious beliefs
40%
donated to honor another person
34% gave
to earn a tax break
33% gave
out of a desire to set an example for future generations
29% gave
when asked
Maybe we
can take a page from this playbook and use it when it comes to book sales. Let’s rewrite the donation reasons and turn
them into bookselling strategies:
1.
Convince
others your book can make a difference
2.
Show
them they’ll receive satisfaction from reading
3.
Get
readers used to buying the same type of book over and over
4.
Show
them how your book gives back to the community
5.
Have
them buy because of a political or philosophical belief
6.
Show
how the book remedies some aspect of their life – or the lives of those close
to them
7.
Have
them buy your book on impulse
It’s
worth a shot, try it.
I’ll
leave you with this:
The Wall
Street Journal said 70% of those polled said they’d take an action (donate)
after seeing a friend’s social media post about making a donation. SO the key is to get your friends to buy your
book! But you already knew that.
DON’T MISS: ALL NEW RESOURCE OF THE YEAR
2015 Book PR & Marketing Toolkit: All New
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest
book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014
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