My friend Laura, an expert fundraising copywriter, forwarded this to me:
I understand what the organization was going for. But that’s not the best way to get there.
Let’s review for a second why people give:
- They want to solve a problem: Can an individual solve hunger in their neighborhood? No. They know your organization are experts on this issue and are helping people. People donate so thru you they can solve a problem.
- People want to do good: We want to help others. One of the ways to do that is donating to a nonprofit.
- Makes them feel good: There’s nothing wrong with this! People feel good when they donate. We should make sure they feel those good vibes.
- Makes the world a better place: Do I have the resources to solve a worldwide problem? No. But by making my personal community better I am contributing to making the world a better place.
- Community: It’s not just about the individual giver. People want to belong to a community of do-gooders. To know that others are like them and collectively they are making their community better.
When we understand the above, we can make sure our fundraising and marketing materials- direct mail, email, website, blog, social media, texts, videos- play to those themes. Share a problem and a donation is the solution. Make people feel good about their giving.
What you do NOT want to do is “hit people over the head” and tell them they HAVE to give. You don’t want to make giving transactional. And you certainly don’t want to make people feel bad about not giving.
The above contains two of my biggest fundraising pet peeves:
- Status pending: It’s not about donor love. It’s transactional. It’s as if the organization is standing in front of me with their hand out and saying, “Come on. Let’s go. You promised to donate. Give already!” That’s not how you build relationships. That’s how you turn people off.
- The goal: Please please please internalize this: NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR INTERNAL FUNDRAISING AND MARKETING GOAL!
Here’s the opening to an email I received: “This could be a DISASTER, Friend. We were counting on hitting our goal by yesterday’s deadline, but we fell seriously short. Now we urgently need your help to close the gap before it’s too late.” (Bold and red from original) It’s like they’re blaming their subscribers and supporters for not hitting their goal!
Here’s the closing of an email I received: “If we fall short of this goal, we won’t have the resources that we need to help families facing hunger in the new year.” It’s all about “we,” the organization’s goals, nothing about supporters.
You have a goal? Great! You CAN share that goal but that’s not a reason for people to give.
Making people feel bad because you didn’t hit some arbitrary number that your Board picked out of a hat a week before the campaign started is not the donor’s problem. Tell them WHY they should give, WHAT will be the impact, WHO will be helped, HOW they can donate.
Today’s pain point is all about how your audience feels when you shame them into giving. And it’s not good.
Wanna grow and thrive? Try a better approach. I guarantee it’ll boost retention and help you raise more money so you can help more people and have more impact in your community.
That’s how a thrivalist does it.
