Hi Reader!
A school in Virginia offered the course “Home Economics for Boys.” No one enrolled.
The dean renamed the course “Bachelor Living 101,” and 120 signed up, and they had to create a waiting list for the next semester.
There is an amazing point to this true story:
HOW YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION WILL KEEP YOUR FUNDRAISING SMALL.
Fundraisers often live on “tips” rather than "gifts" because of how they talk about their organization.
How you talk about your organization in your emails makes the difference between them being ignored or read.
How you talk about your mission in your newsletters makes the difference between getting no engagement or a lot.
How you talk about your volunteers makes the difference between their enthusiastic service or lack of response.
THE KEY
The key to grabbing someone’s attention is to talk about something they care about.
If they LOVE Italian food, just bring up the subject in their presence and they are all ears!
If they LOVE everything about Star Trek, just mention the Borg, Spock, or how to say “let me die an honorable death,” in Klingon! They will leave their friends, abandon previous conversations, lock eyes with you, and ask you to attend their next binge-a-thon!
The key to grabbing folks’ attention is to talk about something they care about.
DONOR AVATAR
What do your donors care about? A donor avatar (profile) helps you talk about your mission in ways that grab their attention. Here you do the hard work of fleshing out your donors' values and passions. And when you produce a piece of content, you speak to them about your mission in ways that grab their attention, highlighting their values and passions.
This matters because donors don’t give to you, they give to their values through you. Using your donor avatar helps you overcome the curse of being ignored and get engagement.
An email that is organization-centered (and is more likely to be ignored) might read:
Hi Friend,
We are doing some great things. We need you to give so we can keep doing what we do well.
In contrast, an email to a donor who is passionate about helping young women escape human trafficking might read:
Hi Friend,
Because you care about helping young women escape the clutches of trafficking, I knew you would appreciate knowing about an opportunity to make a difference…
Trust me, the person who is passionate about helping young women escape human trafficking will be glued to the above email looking for an invitation to give their time, talent, and treasure.
NEVER PRODUCE COLLATERAL FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION WITHOUT A PROFILE (AVATAR) THAT LISTS:
What causes are most important to the donor and why?
- How would they like to be remembered?
- What problems would they most like to see solved in the world?
- If money were no object, how would they help the beneficiaries of your mission?
- What motivated them to give their first gifts to your mission?
- Are they a certain age?
- Live in a single community?
- All women?
- Baby boomers?
- Gen-Xers?
- What feelings do they hold in common?
- Are they likely to be angry or elated about a recent turn of events in the world or the place you serve?
- What do they understand about the issue or problem you address?
When you produce another piece of content, use the above list to grab attention and pull people into interaction with you and your mission.
Really, all I am saying is, stop wasting energy and time describing your mission as “Home Economics for Boys,” and start describing it as “Bachelor Living 101”!
FREE DOWNLOAD
Most donors never give a second gift. This is known in fundraising as "the elusive second gift." To help you get that elusive second gift, I created a resource, How To Get That Elusive Second Gift By Writing Better Thank You’s. Organizations all over the world have benefited from this, and you can too, for free!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Keep celebrating vision!
David
P.S. I go into a lot more detail in my book Visionary Fundraising.