Create Impact Now: 4 Key Appeal Ingredients That Move Donors to Act
Let’s say you’ve done everything thus far suggested in this fundraising appeal checklist.
✅ You’ve done the groundwork.
✅ You’ve focused your message.
✅ You’ve made it about the donor—not your organization.
Now it’s time to bring it home.
Because no matter how clear or well-structured your appeal is, it won’t inspire action unless it moves the reader.
Emotion—not logic—is what compels people to give. And that emotion is sparked by how you make your donor feel.
Do they feel seen? Valued? Needed? Inspired? Uplifted?
Transform Your Appeal from a Simple Ask into a Powerful Invitation
The final four steps of this 8-step checklist are about speaking to your donor’s best self, inspiring compassion, and stirring urgency.
These are the emotional ingredients that turn intention into action.
Let’s explore them.
In Part 1 we looked at the first four:
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- You
- Easy
- Welcome
- Heart-awakening
Today we continue with four more.
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- Best Self
- Uplift
- Unconditional Love
- Urgency
5. BEST SELF
What if part of the reason our sector has so little understanding of our supporters is because we think we’ve done the work of understanding by slapping the activist, volunteer, donor (insert other generic label here) on people?
— Kevin Shulman, Founder, DonorVoice
Donors have their own sense of identity; they’re people first.
Trying to categorize them neatly into donor “personas” (e.g., “Wanda Widow,” “Busby Business Man,” “Suzy Soccer Mom,)” doesn’t work nearly as well as helping them express their best self or selves.
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