Future Fundraising Now

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.

Why fundraising is all about the heart

What causes donors to donate?

Once you have an answer to that question, you are on your way to effective fundraising.

Here's a good look at that from the Veritus Group Blog, at Let Your Heart Show:

... start with the premise that major gifts are not about money, taxes, power or standing. Instead, it is a thing of the heart.... And if you operate with this belief, then your core objective will be to connect your donor’s heart to the cause.

I have two things to add to this:

1. It's true about all fundraising, not just major donors. People give from the dictates of their hearts. If your fundraising is based on facts, figures, and amazing arguments for the importance of your cause, you will be left high and dry, no matter which donors you're connecting with.
   
2. Now and then, a donor (most typically a major donor) does come up with other reasons for giving. And sometimes those reasons can lead to attempts to distort your mission to their preference. It can be tempting to go along with it in order to secure a large gift. Don't let that happen! It's unethical, and in the end it doesn't help your cause -- or the donor.
   

What your donors want from you

We know what we want from donors.

It's funding to power our organization and change the world.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want the funding, you need to give something in return. But what?

Here are some great thoughts from the Veritus Group Blog, at Four Things That All Donors Want:

1. To be known. Probably every human on this planet has a secret worry that hardly anyone knows who they are or really cares about them. It haunts us all. And it's often fed by the way we get treated by corporations and (sadly) the nonprofits we support. When we send irrelevant fundraising that's all me-me-me and no "you can do" -- we support that dreadful hypothesis that they aren't known. It's even worse when we fail to thank them for giving. Or thank them in a perfunctory, sloppy way. Let your donor know she matters to you and is known by you!
   
2. To be treated as a partner. Are you donors just a source of cash? Or are they valued partners in your shared mission to make the world a better place? Show them which one they are with donor-focused fundraising that's abut what they can do -- not how awesome you are!
   
3. To be told the truth. Never stretch the truth, even a tiny little bit. Be open, clear, and honest all the time. You owe that to your donors.
   
4. To know their gift made a difference. Your donors are afraid their donation is not important, doesn't accomplish anything, and isn't appreciated. Show them otherwise. Thank them promptly, with real emotion. And keep reporting back to them the amazing things they've helped make happen.
   

Those are things your donors hope to get from their giving. Far too often, they aren't getting those things. If you are one of the few who are meeting their needs, they will keep responding to you.

That's the secret.

The real reasons donors donate

Why do your donors give?

Is it because your organization is awesome and doing a great job at something important?

Yes, but not really.

The real reason they give is something inside their own heads, according to the Better Fundraising Blog at People Make Donations to Tell Ourselves...

Here's why they give:

You and I make donations in order to tell ourselves who we are.

Of course, you need to be awesome. You owe that to your cause, yourself, and your donors.

But when it comes to asking, you are on your donors' turf. And you'll do a lot better by speaking your donors' internal language, and show them how their donation makes them more truly and deeply who they are.

What that means is if you want to do well in fundraising, your messaging should...

... tell donors that they’ll love giving to your organization. Your fundraising will need to tell them that your organization has the same values that your donor has. Your fundraising will need to communicate, “people like you give gifts to this organization.”

You can ignore this reality -- most fundraisers do. You'll just raise less money for your cause.

The real reason donors give to nonprofits

Why do donors give you money?

It's pretty simple, really, as articulated at the MarketSmart blog, VALUE:

People will pay to feel good.

There's a lot behind that, of course: A lot of different kinds of feeling good and different causes for it.

But keep this in mind: The main thing you have to give in return for their money is how you make them feel. Then you're most of the way to smart fundraising and excellent donor relationships.

(This post first appeared on July 24, 2017.)

Forget the doubters; raise funds from your believers

Why is it hard to raise funds?

One reason is that large numbers of people don't believe what you're saying. No matter how obvious and self-evident you think it is.

That's what Seth Godin reminds us at Facts are not the antidote for doubt:

... facts won't change a mind that doesn't want to be changed. More facts don't counter more doubt. Someone who is shaking his head, arms folded, eyes squinted and ears closed isn't going to be swayed by more facts.

This tells us a lot about the weird state of US politics these days.

But more to our point, it reminds us of one of the important truths about fundraising:

You are never fundraising from "everybody."

The only people who have any chance of responding to your asks are those who already know, understand, and believe. Everyone else doesn't know about your cause, or doesn't care about it, or won't believe you in any case.

Don't waste your time and money on those people. You aren't going to get them.

Instead, tell the story of a problem members of your "tribe" want to solve. And don't try it with facts; they have almost no impact on the hearts even of believers!

(This post first appeared on June 8, 2017.)

5 good things you're doing for donors as a fundraiser

Some fundraisers feel guilty about asking donors to give. Fundraising can feel to them like a"con job" that leaves our organizations richer and our donors poorer. A zero-sum game.

If that were true, this would be a sad state indeed.

But it's not. When you persuade someone to give, they get something out of it too. You get money, they walk away from the transaction with a lot more than the decrease in their bank account.

So celebrate it when donors give. They're funding your cause (hooray!) and making their own lives better (also hooray!).

Here are some of the reasons Why You Should Never Feel Bad About Asking Someone To Give, from the Boomerang blog:

1. Giving Makes People Feel Happy.
   
2. Giving is Good for Health.
   
3. Giving Promotes Cooperation and Connection.
   
4. Giving Evokes Gratitude.
   
5. Giving is Contagious.
   

Nothing in commercial marketing comes close to doing all that.

So if you ever get that twinge of guilt ... that feeling that you're pulling a quick one on donors ... remember that they walk away from the transaction with fewer dollars in their account, but far richer nonetheless!

The stories donors tell and your fundraising

Why is it so expensive at Whole Foods?

If you shop there, it's partly your own fault.

The prices are high because you want them to be high.

It's because most Whole Foods shoppers are there because of the story they tell themselves about themselves, and Whole Foods is smart enough to listen to that story, even though it's kind of a strange story, as described in Web Ink Now, at The Story Customers Tell Themselves:

... how customers tell themselves the stories that define them (their worldview) and how these relate to the products and services they use.... A mother tells herself a story: “I want the best for my family, so I buy only organic food even though I know it is more expensive.”

The weird thing about this customer story is that it's not just about the superiority of organic food. It's primarily about the customer and the kind of person she is. And she's the kind of person who is happy to spend more for healthier food.

If she encounters organic food that isn't more expensive, that undermines the story.

If she were a computer, she'd do a cost/benefit analysis, and likely conclude that the less expensive organic food is what she should buy. But she's not a computer.

You can wag your finger at her for being "irrational" all day. But you'd be missing the point, and you won't change her psychological reality.

If you were the producer of low-cost organic food, you could jack up your prices so it fits the customer story.

Or you could find out if there are enough people who have a different story that connects with your product as it is. If there are enough of them, you're gold! If there aren't, ouch!

That's why marketing can be so difficult: You do well when you enter your customers' world, not when you stay in your own. Even though you know more about the product than they do.

This has everything to do with fundraising, because to motivate people to action, you have to connect with their lives and their hearts. And because the benefits of giving are almost entirely intangible and emotional.

It's hard to enter another person's worldview. It takes wide-awake patience and humility. It means you have to put hard-earned and important knowledge about your cause on the shelf while you make your case.

But if you need donors, you need to go there. You need to understand their story and join them in telling it.

What happens if you listen to your donors TOO MUCH

Maybe you're listening to your donors too much.

Surprised to hear me ask that?

After all, fundraisers are in the business of supplying donors with what they want and need. The problem is, what they tell you they want is so often not at all what really motivates them to respond.

Virtuous blog tells the sad tale of some customer-listening done by Walmart, at When Not Listening to Your Donors Is the Right Thing to Do.

Seems the retail giant did some research and found out that most customers wished the stores were "less cluttered." I get that. I would have said the same thing.

So Walmart got less cluttered. And sales dropped $1.9 billion. Why?

... they listened to the wrong data -- what customers said instead of what customers did. Not to pile on ... but they took this critical mistake and decided to make it exponentially worse. They decided to take the response as gospel and forget everything they previously knew about customer purchasing behavior.

(I think they've since gone back to clutter.)

Here's the thing. Those people who wanted less clutter were telling the truth -- as far as they know it. They only have access to their conscious opinions. Their real behavior is more deeply rooted in their brains, in those subconscious lizard-like places that drive most human behavior.

It's the same with donors. Ask them what they want, and they'll give you all kinds of terrible advice. They want to hear from you once a year. They don't need emotional stories or suggested ask amounts. They don't want long messages or emotional photos. They tell you they'll donate more if you don't do those things.

Except they won't.

Listening means paying attention to what donors do. And taking what they say with a grain of salt.

There's nothing wrong with donors. That's just the way everyone is. Including you and me.

Do your fundraising in the real world -- the world of behavior, not opinions.

Good news and bad news about stats in fundraising

You probably know that using statistics in fundraising is not a great idea.

That's partly true. Stats can turn donors away, but there's also a way to put stats to work that can improve results. Read about it on The Agitator, at Do You Have a Big Number Problem?

The bad kind of statistic is large numbers. Like "One billion people live on a dollar a day." That's an mind-boggling fact; its boggling quality is exactly what's wrong with it:

The problem with large numbers is they tend to be favored by experts (read nonprofit program staff) who do understand the details and nuance behind the big numbers, but often don’t realize these big numbers are abstractions and offer little in the way of either emotional or practical context.

Using large numbers to describe the problem you want donors to join you in helping to solve is not just ineffective: It creates reasons not to donate. "A billion people need help" is for many a reason not to donate. Because a problem that big looks unsolvable.

But there is a way to use statistics in a way that invites people in instead of pushing them away: Express big facts in terms of one. Like this:

... one in six children or one in 11 adults has this disease or goes hungry at night. Instead of 11 million this and 19 million that...

That turns a stat into a story. "One is six" creates a mental picture of one. Something your reader can imagine. And when you can picture one, you can picture being part of a solution.

When you avoid big numbers in fundraising, you aren't hiding anything from donors. They already know the problems are big. Your job is to give them hope -- hope that they can make a difference.