The cost of unclear writing or hard-to-read design may be higher than you think: When you make a message hard to understand, or even just hard to read, you encourage donors to distrust what you're saying.
That's the message in an excellent article that appeared recently in the Boston Globe, Easy = True.
The theory is called cognitive fluency, and it shows how people prefer things that are easy to think about over things that are hard. The article includes these insights:
Shares in companies with easy-to-pronounce names ... outperform those with hard-to-pronounce names.
When people read something in a difficult-to-read font, they unwittingly transfer that sense of difficulty onto the topic they're reading about.
When a personal questionnaire is presented in a less legible font, people tend to answer it less honestly.
So by all means, make it easy. It's hard enough to get people motivated; that last thing you need to is accidentally push them toward thinking you're no good.
It's pretty simple, really: Fundraising works when it's relevant to donors. When it's not relevant, people ignore it. Using the recent Haiti earthquake as an example, we look at what makes a situation relevant, and what you can do to increase that relevance to your donors -- even if you don't raise money for natural disasters.
The most dangerous enemy of your fundraising program is your executive director's spouse.
It's not that he or she is hostile to your fundraising; an attitude of earnest support is far more likely. The problem is the director's spouse carries a toxic combination of ignorance and authority. She is going to lead you astray, but you can't ignore her.
Like almost anyone who looks at fundraising materials out of context, the boss's spouse has nothing to go on other than personal taste. Thoughts like I like it or This is ugly tell you nothing about potential fundraising success. Those are the exact wrong criteria. And the spouse is probably the wrong person -- demographically, psychographically, and almost every possible way.
In fact, the executive director's spouse is so consistently wrong about fundraising, you could use him as a counter-indicator: The boss's husband loves it! We're screwed! Back to the drawing board!
So be polite while he tells you what he thinks of your fundraising piece. But don't follow his recommendation!
How many meetings have you been at where people have to hold forth with their personal opinion about something, even though those opinions fly in the face of established fact?
Like: I know studies show that serif fonts are five times more readable than sans-serif fonts, but I just think sans-serif is more professional and reflects better on us (etc.)
Some people, a lot really, just have a need to keep talking even after the facts have left them behind.
Simone has a strategy for moving forward before the personal opinion treadmill gets going. Start the discussion by saying ...
"This is what we know." And throw in why we know it if you think that's helpful. Then say, "So let's not question the veracity. Let's not talk about personal opinion. Let's focus on body of knowledge. And then let's figure out the implications for our agency and our strategies.
Of course, this means establishing knowledge in the first place. It also means everyone in the room has to agree to let go of their opinions, which is hard to do.
But give it a try. It could save you a lot of time, and keep you from making the same old mistakes over and over again.
It didn't take long for the bad fundraising messages to crawl out of the cellar in response to the Haiti earthquake.
Here's an example of run-amok abstractionism, from the People of The United Methodist Church. I'm guessing the Methodists got some help from an ad agency on this one. Who else could have screwed up such a simple, compelling message?
As we often do with fundraising messages of this type, we have astoundingly unreadable design. It's as if some demented design teacher told the class: Quick! Name five things that decrease the readability of text!?
All caps! the class called out. Sans serif fonts! Reverse type! Type over an image! Extra-wide leading!
An evil smile spread across the instructor's face. Now use all of those things in one layout!
But the weirdness didn't stop there. While most normal humans understand and interact with other humans by looking at their faces, this ad seems to think connection happens when you put your face five inches away from somebody's hands. Pores! Wrinkles! That'll make people feel the connection!
And the clever splicing of the two photos so it looks like it includes some creepy double-ended free-floating fingers. Maybe that will startle someone into action.
Of course, the poor design may be not such a bad thing, as reading the copy doesn't really help. It reads like a bad haiku:
OF ALL THE THINGS EARTHQUAKES CAN DESTROY THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS NOT ONE OF THEM.
Philosophical abstractions have never before in human history moved people to action. I wonder what made them think it would work this time?
Of course, there is something that's sort of a second-cousin of a call to action: FIND OUT HOW TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF HAITI. Of course, when you follow the URL (10THOUSANDDOORS.ORG) you arrive at a page that's about a lot of different things.
Next time you need to put together a fundraising campaign, put your self-indulgent artsy visions in the drawer until you're done. They don't get you anywhere. And really, it's just as creative and challenging to be literal and clear in a motivating way.
The message doesn't get any clearer or more concrete in video:
Teaser: Goofus-model organizations tend to find themselves working harder and harder (and paying more) to replace the dispirited donors who are giving up and leaving them. It's like being on a merry-go-round that's way too fast and no fun at all.
It takes some doing to lose money with a direct-mail piece to current donors. The economics of the medium almost guarantee that you're going to come out ahead, no matter how bad your work is.
Guess what: I once beat the odds and lost money.
It was for a religious organization, one that was known mainly for its work in Communist and former Communist nations. They also worked in a lot of other areas, including among tribal groups in places like the Amazon and New Guinea. Few people were aware of this side of their work, and they seldom specifically raised funds for it.
Well, time came to raise funds for the tribal work. At first I was skeptical about something so different from what it usually talked to its donors about, but when I got the material about one of the tribes it worked with, I began to change my mind. It was dramatic, exciting stuff.
This particular tribe (let's call them the Kavira Tribe) until recently had been hostile and warlike. But changes in their environment had caused them to put down their weapons seek spiritual help. It was an irresistible story. I even remember my opening sentence: Three years ago, if you'd visited the Kavira Tribe, they would have greeted you with a quick spear-thrust through your neck.
It was a great direct-mail package: good writing, great design and a cool fundraising offer.
But when the results came in, we learned the harsh truth. A stunningly low response rate. A not-so-hot average gift. It added up to negative net revenue.
Turns out you can't just raise funds for anything you want. If you go to your donors with an offer they don't associate you with, they just might ignore you in droves. No matter how great your work is.
Charitable giving is complex. It works when a lot of factors all come together. When you change one or more of those factors -- like talk to donors about something they don't feel signed on to support -- you can actually lose money in direct mail.
His story is a perfect example of how giving up control can be a great strategy.
It happened in 2007, when Greenpeace held a poll to name a specific humpback whale to raise the awareness of the plight of whales. Put up for consideration were names like Libertad, Kaimana, Aurora, Shanti, and Manami. Yawn. Oh, and also Mr. Splashy Pants. I imagine if you really get to know whales, you tend to think of them as wise, dignified, and mysterious.
The people wanted Mr. Splashy Pants. Despite efforts to steer the voting toward the more dignified names, Mr. S.P. won overwhelmingly.
Greenpeace, to their credit, went with the people and named the whale Mr. Splashy Pants.
And launched at better-than-ever campaign that raised awareness of the issue like crazy.
Power to the people! Even if you don't like it very much. They'll make it worth your while.
Maybe you'd noticed men and women are a little different from each other. Keeping that difference in mind can make you a better fundraiser, because the universe of donors skews decidedly female.
Copyblogger looks at that difference at Romance 101: How to Use Feminine Words That Sell. Short version: Men tend to be motivated to fight, win, conquer -- be heroic. Women tend to be motivated connect, relate, repair -- romance.
So often, male writers frame a charitable cause as a battle; sounds compelling to them, but it's just a bit out of tune to their female donor audiences.
Here, according to Copyblogger, are some "romantic" words that can help copy reach women:
Love
Heart
Secret
King, Queen, Princess, Prince (or some other honorable title)
Temptation, Forbidden
Cloud, Moon, Stars (and other celestial bodies)
Heaven, Paradise
Kiss
Virgin
Magic, Enchanted, Bewitched (and other references to the supernatural)
And here's the cool part. Some examples from the commercial world:
Plain: "Solve Email Problems"
Heroic: "Battle Your Email Overload"
Romantic: "Love Your Email Inbox Again"
What this blog is about
The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It's not about any technology, medium, or technique. It's about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It's already here. More.
About the blogger
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you'll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.
I'm a Fundraisingologist at Moceanic, the company that can help you transform the way you do fundraising through one-on-one coaching or membership in The Fundraisingology Lab. Find out what we can do for you and with you!
A proud member of The Case Writers, a collective of the smartest, most donor-loving creative professionals in the business.
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So many people get thrown into the work of writing fundraising without ever being told about the weird they need to live with -- and master -- if they're going to succeed.
How to use rhyme to make your message more memorable and persuasive.
How to tell stories that motivate donors to give.
How to meet donors' emotional needs.
Whether you should use guilt as a motivator.
Whether you're working on your very first fundraising writing assignment or you're a seasoned veteran ... whether you want it for yourself or need to show someone else how the pros write fundraising -- or both -- this is a book you should
Discover how to make branding improve your fundraising in The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand: Motivating Donors to Give, Give Happily, and Keep on Giving. It's easier -- and less expensive -- than you may think!
If your organization is even vaguely considering "branding work," you need to read The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand by Jeff Brooks. Read more here.
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