20-Question-FINAL-2016-r2

Fundraising that works is emotional.
It’s simplistic, blatant, corny, and soupy.
Why does this occur? He concluded, “The reported numbers of deaths represent dry
statistics, ‘human beings with the tears dried off,’ that fail to spark emotion or feeling
and thus fail to motivate action.”
When you communicate with individual donors — whether it’s in your appeals,
newsletters, website, emails, Facebook postings — avoid stats, embrace stories. Jeff
Brooks writing in Future Fundraising Now, January 12, 2016, says: “Here are some
common mistakes [adopted from PhilanTopic] that drain emotion from messages:
✗✗
✗✗
✗✗
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Mistakenly assume that every person is an expert.
Ignore the emotional appeal of their brand.
Put too much emphasis on the ‘investment.’
Tries to sell an idea instead of impact.
Here are some others that I often encounter:
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You think you can instruct people into caring.
You think emotion is somehow dishonestly manipulative.
Your primary goal is to feel good about what you say and how you say it.
✗ ✗ ‘Dignity’ is extremely important to you.
✗✗
Political correctness.
Jeff concludes: “Fundraising that works is emotional. It’s simplistic, blatant, corny,
and soupy. That’s just the way it is. There’s nothing wrong with your donors. That’s
just the playground you’re playing on when you do fundraising.”
You will encounter staff who feel that “simplistic, blatant, corny, and soupy”
fundraising is somehow manipulative, hence unethical. They are wrong (if loud). Their
untrained opinions are irrelevant professionally (if loud). And they may be dangerous
to your bottom line if you cave to them (so zip up).
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20 Questions RE Donor Communications © Tom Ahern, 2016