The book 'Neurogiving: The Science of Donor Decision-Making' by Cherian Koshy premiered at number 132 on the USA Today Bestseller list upon its publication and also ranked number 6 on Amazon's list of books on business and finance. This achievement is significant because books focusing on specialized professional topics like nonprofits typically have a smaller target audience compared to mass-market fiction, self-help, or general business books, making such placement on a list ranking the top 150 best-selling books across all genres and formats nationwide highly unusual.
The book's success underscores a growing demand within the nonprofit sector for evidence-based strategies. Koshy, a fundraising and behavioral science expert, stated that earning a spot on the list, which is nearly unheard of for a fundraising book, highlights the sector's eagerness for science-based insights that make generosity more meaningful and effective. He described 'Neurogiving' as becoming a movement reshaping how the field understands donors, designs experiences, and inspires generosity.
'Neurogiving' bridges neuroscience, behavioral economics, and storytelling to reveal how the brain makes decisions about giving. It provides fundraisers with a framework to design donor experiences that feel human rather than transactional. The book integrates insights from neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and proprietary research into a comprehensive roadmap for generating donor experiences that maximize generosity and long-term commitment.
For nonprofit professionals, the implications are substantial. The book offers illustrative examples and research-informed strategies for applying its principles in real-world fundraising contexts. It provides accessible descriptions of why people give and why they might give repeatedly. Furthermore, it explores the potential role for artificial intelligence and machine learning in donor engagement and personalization, topics of increasing relevance as technology transforms philanthropy.
This bestseller status matters because it validates a shift toward more sophisticated, psychologically-informed fundraising practices. It signals to nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, philanthropy professionals, major gifts officers, development directors, marketers, consultants, and trainers that there is a substantial audience for moving beyond traditional, often transactional methods. The book's framework, which readers can explore further at NeurogivingBook.com, aims to make fundraising more effective by aligning it with how people naturally make decisions. In a world where donors are increasingly discerning and nonprofits face growing competition for limited resources, such science-backed approaches could be crucial for sustaining charitable missions and increasing donor retention.
