Future Fundraising Now

4 steps to a better nonprofit tagline

Tagline: Since 1954.

Possibly the worst nonprofit tagline. I know why this is the tagline of choice for so many nonprofits. They want to show they've been around, that they know what they're doing, that they can be trusted.

Those things matter. But they aren't interesting. Worse, they don't point anyone in the direction of action. It's just chest-thumping of an especially dull variety.

If you have a nonstarter of a tagline and you want to make it better, here are some steps you can take:

1. Decide the audience for this tagline. Your primary audience might be donors, but it might be ticket-buyers, patients, the people you directly serve, or others. Or some combination of two or more different audiences. Put it in writing and think carefully about what your organization means to the audience you intend to reach.
   
2. Make it about what your audience can do. Not about some attribute of your organization. Nike's tagline isn't about the quality of their shoes; it's about what the shoes mean to their customers. Go for that approach. Say something concrete, action-oriented, and inspiring. In just a few words. That's not easy!
   
3. Clever wordplay is neither necessary nor helpful. Wordplay is not as cool as you think. It's more likely confusing than interesting. And it rarely inspires action or connection. Just don't do it.
   
4. Big picture, a tagline isn't all that important. Really, it's not going to change your fate. Good fundraising with a lousy tagline will work just fine. If changing your tagline will be a heavy lift and/or cause conflict, don't bother! Spend your time being good at connecting with donors.
   

See also these posts on tagline:

• Abstractions make taglines pointless
  
• Beware the 3-Verb Fumble in your writing.
  

Fundraising: Do positive or negative messages work better?

Some fundraisers insist that effective fundraising must put "negative" information in front of donors -- that is, a problem for them to help solve.

Others say we should inspire donors to action by showing them positive change that they can become part of by giving.

Which is right?

The Boomerang Blog suggests positive/negative is the wrong question, at How Do You Use Psychological Appeal Persuasion Triggers So They Complement Each Other?

Instead, it's about giving donors the "gift of joy."

When you use scarcity ... you’re actually tapping into something positive the donor wants. [W]hen you channel the principle of loss aversion, you simply give people a ... choice. Go down the one route and something they care about will be lost. Go down the other route and they, and those they help, will win.

If you're stuck in the positive/negative either/or paradigm, it seems you have to choose between:

• All good news, which tells donors they aren't needed.
  
• All bad news, which can work up to a point, but isn't sustainable because it shows them they don't make any difference.
  

Not a good place to be stuck.

Instead, fundraisinag should go like this:

• There's a problem (a very real and serious problem).
  
• But there's also a solution, and you can be part of it.
  

Then (and here's the key that far too many fundraisers don't do), you show them that the solution is happening. That their giving really did what you said it would do. This second part happens when you thank donors and report back, and it's key to keeping new donors.

5 secrets old-pro fundraisers rely on to craft their best work

Here are some old copywriting tricks that can help you write better, stronger fundraising. These are used by fundraising writers with decades of experience under their belts. They can work for you too:

1. Write the reply coupon (or donation page) first. Knowing exactly where everything is pointing helps you stay on task and avoid rabbit trails as you write.
   
2. Remove nearly all adverbs and most adjectives. Most modifiers are lazy short-cuts that make you feel you've said something powerful when all you've created is more likely self-evident hype. Taking out the modifiers forces you to do what your ought to do: Write with nouns and verbs.
   
3. Get in the mood. It helps if you feel the way you want to reader to feel. Get into the reader's head. Try to feel that pitch of emotion that moves her to take action. (Seasonal hint: When you're writing Christmas fundraising, listen to Christmas music -- soupy, old-time sentimental stuff, like Bing Crosby. Works wonders to get you in the mood!)
   
4. Get out of the mood. It also helps to go into pure analytical mode about your writing. Think like Mr. Spock, eliminating your own feelings so you can be purely objective so you can see your work clearly.
   
5. Read out loud. You can eliminate so much hard-to-read writing by doing this. If you stumble while reading out loud, you have stumbly copy in front of you. This helps you pinpoint the problems spots and fix them.
   

(This post first appeared on August 22, 2017.)

Is 2022 a bad year for fundraising? What about 2023?

Most fundraisers are getting worse results in 2022 than they did in 2020 and 2021.

Inflation? Recession? Maybe.

But for many, the "problem" is, we’re returning to “normal.”

2020 and 2021 were record-breaking years for those who kept fundraising. Donors were pouring out donations, because they understood the crisis we were all facing together. Most likely, those two years will be the high-water mark for fundraising for a long time to come.

That time of unusual responsiveness is over, at least for most of us. Think of 2022 as a lot like 2019 -- maybe worse. Fundraising results tend to follow the stock market, so when stocks fall, so does fundraising.

Mainly, 2022 looks and feels bad when you compare it to the last two years.

The difference is that if you stayed on top of things during the pandemic, you probably have a healthier and larger donor file. So normal (and even difficult) times may be better than they used to be.

What about next year?

There's no reason to believe 2023 will be much different from 2022. Things might work for you or against you. It's largely up to how you respond to the reality you face.

What should you do now?

1. Keep on fundraising. Playing possum will only make it worse.
   
2. Continue to be relevant. Talk about the situation you face now. The organizations that are continuing to do well are those talking about the struggles of inflation and a rough economy.
   

How to use photos in fundraising [PODCAST]

Take note of this: A picture is worth a thousand words. So choose your pictures carefully!

We take a look at the ways photos can emotional depth and measurable pull-power to your fundraising ... or undermine your message entirely!

A good fundraiser knows when to use “negative” images and when to use the positive ones we prefer. Find out in this episode the rhythm and balance of images that motivate donors to give. And to keep giving.

From the archives of the now-defunct podcast Fundraising Is Beautiful. This episode first aired on October 11, 2017. Listen here:

(If you don't see the audio player below, click here to listen.)

Who should sign your fundraising message? (It's easier than you think)

It's common for fundraisers to agonize over who should sign their letters and emails.

I have good news for you: It's not that difficult. Except in very rare cases¹, who signs your messages has very little impact on results. You have a lot of choice in this area -- if you're given the choice.

Here's a simple checklist for deciding who should sign:

Your signer should be...

• The highest ranking person² ...
  
• Who won't muck up your messaging³ ...
  
• Or destroy your timeline⁴ ...
  
• (Optional) And is willing to share their telephone number with donors⁵
  

Footnotes

1. Sometimes a celebrity or much-admired person is identified with a nonprofit organization. In those cases, that person's signature adds value to the fundraising because so many people know and trust them. Very rare!
   
2. It's good when the signer has high ranking. It says "we mean it." But the next three criteria are much more important than the signer's rank.
   
3. I hate to say it, but some nonprofit leaders are highly opinionated micro-managers who don't know a lot about fundraising. They can devastate fundraising effectiveness with the revisions they require. One way to avoid this is to find someone not as high-ranking, but knowledgeable about fundraising -- or at least cooperative.
   
4. Another common feature of leaders is they are very busy. Some take weeks to get back to us with permission to use their signature. That's even more damaging to results than messing up the message. Find a signer who cooperates in a timely manner.
   
5. You don't have to do this, but it's pretty cool: Being able to say in your message, "If you have any questions or want to know more, you can call me directly. My cell phone number is 000-000-0000." Some leaders will say, No way, no how to that, fearing a time-sucking avalanche of calls from donors. That won't happen. Most likely they'll get between zero and three calls. And the calls will be lovely. But if a potential signer can't stomach making that invitation, find someone else.
   

How to make your fundraising relevant [Book Review]

Book Review: The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon

One of the main causes of weak fundraising is that it's irrelevant to donors. Fewer give, because the ask doesn't connect with their lives in any way they can perceive.

It could be superbly written, masterfully designed, a great call to action, smart segmentation ... and still fail because it's not relevant to the people you're talking to.

There are two main types of fundraising irrelevance:

1. It's of little or no interest to the donors you're hoping to connect with. This is usually a failure or mismatch of audience to offer. You're talking to the wrong people.
   
2. It could be of interest to the donors, but the way it's presented fails to connect with them. This is a failure of messaging.
   

#2 is the sad one. It should work, but it doesn't, because the organization has failed to reach out beyond their own mindset. It's very common in fundraising, a top reason for poor results.

That's why you should read The Art of Relevance.

The book is not (directly) about fundraising. It's written for arts and culture organizations, especially museums.

These organizations struggle big time with the knowledge gap between themselves and their donors. The people who work there are experts. The donors are not. So the insider jargon that requires years of specific training to understand sails right past the donors. It's opaque and boring to them.

That's arts organizations. But as I read the book, I found crystal-clear messages for fundraisers in all sectors.

Because there's always a knowledge gap between us and our donors, and we always struggle to bridge that gap ... we're always prone to churning out irrelevant messages that aren't good at raising funds.

Thinking about relevance can help you change that.

Here's how the book puts it:

To be relevant, we need to cultivate open-hearted insiders. Insiders who are thrilled to welcome in new people. Who are delighted by new experiences. The greatest gift that insiders can give outsiders is to help them build new doors. To say, I want you here — not on my terms, but on yours.

You might be surprised that it's about your heart. Why not your brain? You need to be smart to excel, right?

Well, no. When your heart is open -- that is, you have an emotional connection and empathy with those you want to move to action -- you will be much better at seeing and saying what they're looking for. What they understand. What they care about. You'll also build a personal bias toward asking them what they're seeking. And paying close attention to their behavior -- even when you don't really like their viewpoint.

Because the truth is, as the book says: "You cannot assign relevance by fiat. People choose for themselves what is relevant. You can’t dictate it from on high."

You know your stuff better than your donors do. You know what they "should" care about. And when you make forcing them to care about your cause the same way you care about it, you are wasting your time and theirs.

But when you tune into what is relevant to them, you are on the road to great fundraising.

Don't feel bad if it's a struggle. It's not easy. But start with an open heart and a willingness to learn ... and you are on your way.

This book is a start.

Your fundraising might just be "white noise" for donors

There's a certain way things are done. We create printed pieces that look nice and professional. We use tasteful color palettes. We use an elevated vocabulary to signify our sophistication and education.

It's everywhere.

And it's the equivalence of white noise -- sound that you don't quite hear.

When you do things the way everyone does everything, your message becomes white noise. People don't notice it. Clearly, not a good thing for your fundraising!

The Veritus Group Blog tackles that problem at Don’t Be White Noise to Your Donor: 4 Ways to Stand Out:

... your donors are getting a lot of communication from dozens of nonprofits all asking for help, and many are tuning out because it starts to feel like “white noise” to them.

This is why effective fundraising is so often "ugly." That can turn it into an audible voice that rising out of the background noise.

Here are some ways to stand out, from Veritus. These are aimed at major donors, but you can adapt and scale them to any group of donors you want:

• Simple, personalized video you make from your phone. Yes, it's going to be shaky. The sound will not be great. It won't look classy and professional. But it will break through and get attention!
  
• Personalized Impact Report. Create a report that uses a lot of photos, graphs, and short chunks of text. Don't spend a lot of time making it look perfect. Just get the info down on paper (or on a PDF) and send or email it.
  
• November Giving Report. Before the year-end rush is in full swing, send a letter to donors that summarizes their giving so far this year. It's a great reminder of what they can do during the giving season.
  
• Thanksgiving Card. (For US donors.) You can still send the traditional Holiday card, but your Thanksgiving card, sent to arrive just before Thanksgiving, expresses your thankfulness for what the donor has done.
  

Look for ways to stand out, to break through, to be anything but white noise in your donor's day.

[QUIZ] Is that statement of fact trustworthy?

Quiz for fundraising nerds:

Which of the following is a statement of fact?

1. Nobody reads long direct mail letters any more.
   
2. Donors hate the color yellow.
   
3. Donors are no longer responding to email fundraising.
   
4. If you mail more than three appeals in a year, you will lose donors.
   

Trick question. None of these are statements of fact. They are hypotheses. Ideas that should be scrutinized before being taken as fact.

When someone tells you one of these things, you should dig deeper: How do you know this to be true?

You will almost always discover that the statement falls in one of these categories:

• Knowable, and reasonably proven to be true. (Or untrue.)
  
• It's not knowable, because we can't know what's in people's minds, even if we ask them, because they don't know either. But we can discover what people do in response to what we put in front of them. That's knowable and important.
  
• Possibly true, but the reality is far more complex than the statement.
  
• A logical extrapolation from known (or maybe not really known) facts. These may or may not bear up to scrutiny.
  
• Personal opinion or wishful thinking.
  

Do your best to discern the origin of the facts people throw at you. You'll often find that the most reasonable sounding facts are wild stabs in the dark.

Here are the "answers" to the quiz:

#1: Unknowable. People may or may not reader Long letters. Maybe they never did read them. But we do know that donors respond more to longer letters.

#2: Unknowable. And unlikely. Sure some people may "hate" the color yellow, but the real question is "Do our donors respond to messages that have yellow in them. Some organizations raise a lot of money using the color yellow. Others don't. Many other things matter more!

#3 Somewhat true. Response to emails has never been high (at least, compared to direct mail), and many emailers have seen that response drop over time. Others have seen improvements, usually because they've grown more sophisticated and donor-focused in their emails, and they're practicing smart integration with other channels.

#4: Almost certainly untrue. There is no "perfect" number of fundraising appeals, but I can tell you, it's more then three! Don't fear a mass exodus of your donors. The large majority of them want to give!

The case of the irrelevant fundraising envelope that really works

Here's an interesting outer envelope for a direct-mail acquisition piece mailed by Doctors Without Borders:

Does that strike you as odd that it leads with the idea of the donors' emotional state? Doctors Without Borders' mission is not to help people deal with our anxiety about the way the world is.

Off point?

I'm pretty confident this is a control, meaning it's working.

So what's going on?

They're addressing one of the real reasons people give. Yes, they want to solve a problem and help other people. But they also give for internal reasons. Like giving fulfills their religious obligations. Or giving helps make the world safer, cleaner, kinder -- better in ways they care about.

Giving improves one's sense of control.

In times of heightened tension and uncertainty, this rises in importance for many people. We'd all rather feel like rescuers than like victims. Giving helps with that. And experienced donors know it.

Doctors Without Borders is outward focused. They help people in dire need. They're looking for donors who are also outward focused and care about other people, often people far away.

But they've discovered that every outward focused donor also has an inner life and inner needs. And connecting those two things can move them to action.

This might work for you.

One other thing about this envelope that you can't see from this scan: It's fat. About a quarter of an inch (6mm) thick. That's likely another reason it works. It's different from other envelopes.

It's that way because it contains a tote bag. An actual tote bag (along with the usual direct mail fundraising ingredients.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the other side of this envelope and what we can learn from it -- including the tote bag.