Here's a great email subject-line test, reported at 101fundraising, that shows pretty dramatically how important it is to make your fundraising about donors, not about you: It's you, not me.
| Subject line | Open rate | Clickthrough |
| From Haiti to Somalia, taking action together to save lives | 31.4% | 1.5% |
| Together, our swift response has made a difference in Haiti | 35.1% | 1.9% |
| You've had a life-saving impact | 42.3% | 2.3% |
This isn't unique to email subject lines. You'll get results like this most of the time, in any media. Make it about donors, and you get more response.
The reason is very simple: They don't give because of who you are; they because of who they are.
Jeff Brooks, creative director at 
So true. The cardinal rule of marketing is "make it about the customer." NGOs are no exception.
Posted by: Leah | 22 February 2012 at 13:41
Couldn't say it better. Love the headlines comparison. Just told a client today: stop saying "I " and "We"; start saying "You" and "Together"
There are two "I"s in 'fundraising", but they should stand for 'inspiration' and 'innovation'
Posted by: claire axelrad | 23 February 2012 at 02:59