How to use social proof in fundraising appeals

Social proof is a powerful motivator in fundraising appeals. My article in Nonprofit Pro describes how to use it, and shares some ideas on making it work even harder for you.

To leverage social proof, you can:

  1. Highlight a dollar amount in the gift string. This is often effective. But there’s an even better way to make this work.
  2. Use localization: add the name of the donor’s city to your appeal. But there’s a way to make this even more compelling for donors.
  3. Use testimonials from donors. But you can take this a step further, so that it works even better.
  4. Change the way you present donor benefits. Here’s how to slightly recast the impression that your fundraising copy is giving to bring more donors in.
  5. And whatever you do, be careful to avoid using negative social proof. See what it is and why it’s an easy trap to fall into.

Check out the whole article here.

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