Every fundraiser knows the tension: You want to lead with a story that stirs hearts. Your CFO wants broad messaging that raises money for the whole organization. They’re not wrong—unrestricted funding is essential. But broad, abstract appeals rarely move donors to act. Most people give to something they care about deeply. A moment. A face.…
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In 1984 Robert Cialdini wrote a groundbreaking bo, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, outlining principles of influence that affect human behaviors. Today these principles have been well documented. Trail-blazing research added by behavioral scientists like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky supports and expands on Cialdini’s principles. No matter how much technology advances, the triggers behind human behavior and…
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It’s Tax Day – April 15th — in the U.S. No fun. Nobody likes paying taxes. Nobody likes thinking about paying taxes. Bummer. A subject most folks avoid like the plague. And that’s the point. Talking about taxes is mostly bad news. It puts folks in a sour mood. It makes them want to move…
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Everyone’s been saying this, just about daily, for some time.
“These aren’t ordinary times.”
If the anthem for the Boomer generation was Bob Dylan’s “The TImes They Are A’Changin’,” what’s the anthem for today? History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. We’re living in the face of a firehose of breaking news, and much of it is difficult to digest. Let alone know how to face, handle and get through it with safety and sanity intact.
We can retreat, live in limbo or figure out a way to navigate through this reality and find opportunities to do our work in new and better ways.
It’s a difficult assignment, because it’s not easy to know where to begin.
As social benefit organizations, we want to come from a human-centered, community-centered place, but… what exactly might that be in this extraordinary time?
I think it’s humanity and trust.
Usually we have to guess at what will feel relevant to our supporters. Today, we pretty much know. Because we hear it all the time. On the news. On social media. When we zoom with colleagues. When we talk to our friends.
Social benefit organizations have a secret advantage.
Survival in the civil sector is based on the philanthropic exchange, and ‘philanthropy’ means ‘love of humanity’. Yet sometimes it seems all we see and hear is hatred of humanity. Us/Them. Left/Right. Red/Blue. Young/Old. Good/Evil. Insiders/Outsiders. I could go on…
There’s a better way. When you infuse your nonprofit work with humanity, you’ll reach trust.
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Confession: I’ve never been a fan of Greedy Tuesday. There, I said it. And you can see how I’ve said it before in: The True Meaning of Giving Tuesday Giving Tuesday: Don’t Take the Money and Run #GivingTuesday or #GratitudeTuesday? Choose! It’s time for a post-mortem, and some thinking about what you might do better…
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… if you do nothing proactive to make them want to stay. You’re working hard to bring in as many donations as possible this year. And you’re being successful. Yay you! But, wait. There’s an “uh oh” looming around the corner. Today we’re going to take a lo at why many of your donors may…
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Your job as a philanthropy facilitator is to do everything in your power to make giving to you as easy, joyful and rewarding as possible. You are, if you will, a donor Sherpa. As a donor guide, you likely know things your donors don’t know. You have tools they don’t have. Your role along the pathway to…
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The biggest fundraising time of the year for most nonprofits inexorably approaches.
It can be stressful.
Don’t succumb to the stress. You’ve got this!
Perhaps you can’t do everything you’d like to do this year, but you can do some things.
Some you can do on your own.
Some will require support from technical and/or marketing staff.
Don’t become discouraged thinking you don’t have the time. Sometimes you don’t have time not to do these things.
None of these suggestions are big time consumers standing alone. They’re each little tweaks. Because often it’s the little things that count. That pack a surprising wallop.
So don’t save all your energy for writing your appeal. Help your appeal along by putting some of the dozen suggestions that follow into effect.
Even just one or two will make a difference.
Let’s get started…
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BOO!
Halloween is creeping up on us, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!
Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.
In fact, you’ll get eight delicious goodies — in the form of “to-do’s.”
But first… the bad news.
No bones about it, you’re frightening folks away if you’re committing any of these 8 boo-boo’s!
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We use them to understand our world.
But do the same stories work in any time? For any person? No.
You need to understand your SMIT story – ‘Single Most Important Thing’ – at this moment in time.
And that SMIT will change, depending on the environment in which you’re operating.
You need to know your audience. Today. The story you told last year may not work as well this year. And here is why:
(1). The story must be relevant to the donor – which will depend on what is top of mind for them (hint: pay attention to the news).
(2). The need to give the story a happy ending must feel urgent (hint: pay attention to the news).
Whatever your mission, relevancy and urgency are the key to emotional appeals.
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People are wired for stories