Our Donors Love Us, So We Need to Love Them Back
On 3 March 2026, Tassy Serradura, Fundraising Manager at Animal Welfare League South Australia, Sam Jacklin, CEO at Animal Welfare League Queensland, and Dr. Jen Shang presented at the For the Paws conference in a session titled “It’s Not Just About the Money: Cultivating Deeper Donor Relationships Through the Lens of Love.”
Over this four-part blog series, we will explore how Tassy and Sam have guided Animal Welfare League SA on a PhilPsych journey: discovering what it truly means to experience donors’ love and to embed that understanding across their teams, executives, and governing boards.
Through their sustained application of Philanthropic Psychology, Animal Welfare League SA has achieved an average 20% increase in gift value across repeated A/B tests, alongside a 26% reduction in Return-to-Sender rate. While response rates have remained stable, these outcomes translated into a 20% rise in total income and, perhaps more importantly, a more loyal and engaged donor community.
The series will cover:
Blog 1: Our Donors Love Us, So We Need to Love Them Back
Blog 2: A Whole-Organisation Approach
Blog 3: A Plan for Rigorous Testing
Blog 4: Turning the Enemy into Friends
Rediscovering the Language of Love in Fundraising
It all began when Sam and Tassy recognised how deeply the principles of Philanthropic Psychology resonated with their own values. Although the scientific discipline is relatively new, its vocabulary and intent articulated something they had long felt intuitively. It shares the belief that effective fundraising is, at its core, an expression of love.
Sam’s journey with Philanthropic Psychology began six years ago, also at For the Paws, when she first learned about Shoni Field’s success applying these principles at the BC SPCA. Since then, Sam has guided Tassy, her marketing team, and the entire Animal Welfare League South Australia through a comprehensive process of integrating PhilPsych concepts, fostering both greater generosity and deeper relationships.
Reflecting on this transformation, Sam shared:
“I’ve worked in fundraising for nearly 20 years, and I might describe myself as a marketer by trade but a fundraiser at heart. Early in my career, I sometimes felt uneasy about fundraising: marketing focuses on features, benefits, and conversion rates, but fundraising should be something gentler and more heartfelt. When I couldn’t find that softer connection, something about our fundraising felt incomplete. I just didn’t yet have the language to explain it.”
Six years ago, when Sam first encountered Philanthropic Psychology, that missing language appeared.
“Suddenly there were words for what I’d been feeling inside,” she said.
Tassy agreed:
“We wanted to do this because it just felt like the right thing to do.”
This shared sense of familiarity and internal alignment became a cornerstone for their success.
From Transaction to Transformation
If an organisation approaches Philanthropic Psychology purely as a means of increasing income, its implementation often remains shallow and its potential benefits limited: they are limited to minor wording changes or isolated tests. Short-term uplifts may follow, but deeper growth rarely does.
By contrast, when teams embrace PhilPsych because it aligns with their values and reflects how they wish to relate to donors, the benefits reach far beyond financial outcomes.
As Sam expressed:
“This is my ‘why.’ Our donors already love us, it’s our responsibility to love them back.”
Tassy added:
“As custodians of donor money, we are conscious of the responsibility to spend it wisely and efficiently. But we are also custodians of their hearts and that is an even greater responsibility.”
As someone who describes herself as “a bit of a data nerd,” Tassy was equally determined to test the PhilPsych approach rigorously.
“Of course, we needed to test it,” she said. “And over the years, our testing consistently showed an average 20% lift in gift values across all campaigns.”
This is a significant achievement, particularly given the challenging fundraising environment many organisations are experiencing today. It demonstrates that a focus on love and emotional connection can translate directly into measurable outcomes.
Their first pilot test, however, was not without challenges. Rather than dismissing early results, they sought feedback, refined their approach, and persisted. Since then, they have maintained a consistent 20% uplift across multiple campaigns. This experience underscores a critical distinction: success built on belief, not mere pursuit of results, is what sustains transformative growth.
Their belief was never simply that “PhilPsych works,” but that our donors love us, and it is our privilege to love them back.
Building a Culture of Love
Both Sam and Tassy emphasise that authentic donor connection begins internally. Before an organisation can expect supporters to respond to messages of love, that same ethos must take root among its staff, volunteers, and leaders.
Transforming a philanthropic culture from one centered on giving to one grounded in loving requires shared belief, intentional action, and organisational alignment.
In our next blog, we will explore how Sam and Tassy fostered this cultural shift across their organisations, and how others can do the same.
Read Blog 2: A Whole-Organisation Approach from 9 April 2026.