Fundraising Copywriter George Crankovic

Category: fundraising

  • Don’t hide from your donors — communicate with them

    You really should be mailing and emailing your donors more often. Why? Because…

    Your donors want to hear from you. They want to know what your nonprofit is doing. They want to know when their help is needed. They want to donate. And they expect to donate because they understand how nonprofits operate. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be on your donor rolls in the first place.

    So, of course they expect to get your fundraising appeals. Still, what about the dreaded too-much-mail complaint?

    Simple. You can respond to it by respecting donors’ individual preferences. And offering them your sustainer program as an option for receiving less mail.

    Here’s the point: It does your nonprofit no good to restrict the appeals you send and hide from your donors. Your fundraising isn’t an intrusion in your donors’ lives, as some nonprofits seem to believe. Your fundraising is how you have a relationship with your donors. In fact, for most of your donors, your fundraising is all they’ll ever see of your nonprofit. Sure, some donors go to events, and some take the tour. But for most of your donors, your fundraising IS your nonprofit.

    And it’s pretty hard to have a strong relationship with your donors – let alone build your nonprofit’s brand — if they only hear from you once or twice a year.

    Then again, it’s not just about mailing more. It’s about mailing smarter too. That means:

    Asking your donors how often they want to hear from you and through what media, and honoring their preferences.

    Mailing less to lower-dollar donors.

    Mailing more to higher-dollar donors and using appeals with specialized messaging and production values.

    Letting lower-dollar lapsed donors go while reactivating higher-dollar lapsed donors.

    Adding extra appeals during high-response times like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and year end.

    And adding a donor-centric newsletter with success stories about your donor’s support at work.

    What it comes down to is this: You have to get your message in front of your donors – repeatedly. Otherwise, they’re likely to forget all about you. That’s a much greater risk than an occasional complaint about too much mail or email. You can see more here: https://tinyurl.com/yr7mwacw

  • One of the main reasons why donors give

    It’s a strange quirk of nonprofits, but a lot of their fundraising seems intent on denying their donors the one thing that those donors want the most.

    Donors want action. They want something to be accomplished.

    Action on an issue that donors care about is one of the primary reasons for giving a gift. That issue could be hunger, poverty, homelessness, animal abuse, social justice, or any of a thousand others. Whatever it is, your donors are on your list because they want to see something get done.

    Stories, happy photos, sad photos, envelopes with teasers, envelopes without teasers – these things and many more like them are all a part of direct mail fundraising, and they’re all important.

    But when it comes down to the moment of truth, when a donor is deciding whether to give or not give, there’s a question in the donor’s mind, and that question is probably, Will my donation actually accomplish anything?

    So it’s curious why so many nonprofits send out fundraising appeals with offers based on vague generalizations like “give hope,” “stand with us,” “join our movement,” and “make a difference” instead of specifics on what the donor’s gift will do.

    You see this all the time. You get an appeal from a not-for-profit hospital asking you to donate. They could – emphasize could — ask you to fund something specific and actionable like a clinical trial for a new cancer drug. They could give you the opportunity to make something happen, create some kind of change, and move cancer research closer to the goal. That has a good chance of eliciting a donation.

    Instead, the appeal talks in vague generalities about enhancing the well-being of the community, how much the hospital cares about each and every resident, and how the hospital is the premier health system in the state. That has a good chance of eliciting a yawn.

    That’s because donors see through this nonsense and ambiguity. They want action. They want their donation to do something, to mean something. When the copywriting in a fundraising appeal clearly conveys what the donor can accomplish, you’re connecting with donors on the level of their personal values. And with that connection in place, donors are far more likely to reward your nonprofit with a gift. You can see more about this here: https://tinyurl.com/nhevffms

  • Give your donors a specific problem to solve

    Not sure why nonprofits do this…

    The teaser on the outer envelope is “Share hope this summer.” And the subhead is “See inside how you’re making an impact for neighbors like Ken.” There’s also a photo, presumably of Ken.

    This says practically nothing to a potential donor. It’s soft and mushy. It’s vague and abstract. And it fails to present a problem the donor can solve.

    In this case, the problem is real and specific. It’s life or death, in fact. People who are homeless will suffer and die in the searing heat of the summer, especially with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees.

    That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s the problem, and “Share hope this summer” doesn’t begin to cover it.

    The letter copy also avoids the problem. It opens with Ken’s story about how he’s homeless and how his skin condition is worsened by the heat, then shifts to, “The high temperatures of summer can make life without shelter dangerous. You can make a profound difference for our neighbors with a generous gift of $10, $15, or even $20 today.”

    “High temperatures can make life dangerous” isn’t a specific problem, and “you can make a profound difference” isn’t a specific solution. What will my $10 do? Nowhere in the letter does it say, other than bland phrases like “providing critical services and programs.”

    So, why do nonprofits do this? Maybe they’re afraid of being criticized for “saviorism” or “othering.” Maybe they don’t want their appeals to be a downer. Maybe they think talking about a problem somehow overshadows the good work they do. Maybe…who knows?

    The reality is that not presenting a problem to donors results in soft, mushy appeals that just make donors shrug. You want appeals that are direct and to the point, because they make donors react. See more about this here.

  • Grammar rules you can’t break in fundraising copy and some you can

    Grammar rules? For fundraising copy?

    Yes.

    Hold on a minute. Shouldn’t fundraising copy be all informal and conversational? And doesn’t “conversational” mean that we routinely break so-called grammar rules and begin sentences with “and” or “but,” use contractions, end sentences with prepositions, and more?

    Yes to that too.

    But still, there are some grammar rules you can’t break, simply because breaking them causes confusion for readers – and that we definitely don’t want. Here are three of those unbreakable rules (from my article in NonProfitPRO: https://tinyurl.com/4pnwtpx8).

    The dangling modifier. Take this example: “It’s so easy to forget that plants are quiet miracles. Often small, underfoot, and seemingly plentiful, we overlook their clever design and chemical superpowers.” In the second sentence, the phrase “Often small, underfoot, and seemingly plentiful” modifies “we” when it should modify “plants.” It’s not we who are often small, underfoot, and seemingly plentiful. It’s plants. This error is really common, but it causes a lot of confusion for readers.

    Subject-verb agreement. You wouldn’t say “Children in Darfur is starving,” you’d say, “Children in Darfur are starving.” That’s pretty obvious subject-verb agreement. The problem comes in when other phrases get in the way. Take this example: “A shipment of lifesaving vaccines are being unloaded now in Africa.” The problem is that the subject of the sentence is “shipment,” not “vaccines.” The verb has to agree with “shipment.” That sentence should be “A shipment of lifesaving vaccines is being unloaded…” not “are being unloaded.”

    Run-on sentence. This is when two sentences are jammed together without the right punctuation, as in: “Too many seniors are struggling with hunger and isolation, they need the help that your gift provides.” That comma is linking those two separate ideas. It’s an error called a comma splice. They should really be linked with a semicolon, or better yet, they should be two separate sentences.

    A grammatical error in fundraising copy isn’t the end of the world, of course. Still, errors like these can cause confusion and distract donors from the fundraising message. And when that happens, you’re more likely to lose the donation instead of winning it.

  • Why your fundraising appeal needs more urgency

    There’s a moment when your donor looks over your direct mail or email appeal and thinks, “I’ll put this aside for now and maybe help with that a little later.”

    That’s the moment when you realize your appeal didn’t have something it needed – urgency.

    Here are some ways around that problem from my article, How to Ramp Up the Urgency in Appeals and Boost Response, in Nonprofit Pro.

    Use a deadline. We’re all conditioned to respond to deadlines. This includes actual deadlines (like year end, Giving Tuesday, and others), sensible deadlines (like National Doctor’s Day, fund drive deadlines, and so on), and even random deadlines (like ‘respond in the next 7 days.’). Deadlines tend to focus the mind.

    Create immediacy. Center your appeal around a timeframe in the very near future. That makes your ask more actionable. “Your gift today will save the life of someone who’s homeless. Just a few weeks from now, in January, temperatures will plummet. That’s no time to be out on the street. The cold kills. Before that happens, please give now to provide safe shelter.”

    Show the consequences of not giving. Often, avoiding a negative outcome is more motivating. “Our criminal justice system in this country is unjust for low-income people. Please give now to help create a more equal justice system by eliminating cash bail. Unless you help, people who are detained before trial because they can’t make bail will lose their jobs, their housing, and even custody of their children.”

    Amp up the emotion. You could say, “Help reduce infant mortality in Africa” or you could make it more emotional with something like “In a cinder-block hut in Uganda, a young mother, weeping. A father, broken. Their newborn baby girl lies dead, open mouthed to the night air. Please give now when just $25 can save a precious new life.” An emotional ask is more urgent in a way that a bland, factual ask could never be.

    Urgency is vital in appeals. Because sometimes donors just need that little, extra nudge to realize all the good they can do.

  • Why is the copy for direct response fundraising so weird?

    It’s not weird, really. But it is way different from academic, business, or journalistic writing, and so it can seem weird to the (uninitiated) people at nonprofits who review copy.

    As my article in NonprofitPRO points out:

    Good copy is simple. It uses short words, sentences, and paragraphs, without jargon. That doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down, as some nonprofits think. That means it’s plain talk, which everyone appreciates, including donors.

    Good copy is repetitive. You need to repeat the important points, because most donors don’t read a letter or email from front to back. They skim. Repeating key concepts means you have a better chance of grabbing attention.

    Good copy is dramatic. To get donors’ attention and keep it, copy has to have emotional content. It has to have drama. But then it’s seen as over the top by some at the nonprofit. That’s too bad. Toning down the copy just leads to boring copy. As David Ogilvy said, “You can’t bore people into buying.” Well you can’t bore them into giving either.

    Direct response copy is the way it is because that’s what donors respond to. You can see more about why this is the case by clicking here.

  • Is this fundraising that works?

    The overline at the top of the fundraising letter reads, “You can join your neighbors to help families facing hunger.”

    So far, so good. Everybody’s against hunger. Then, this: “Every $1 can help feed a family of 3!”

    One thing’s for sure: that exclamation point is certainly justified if only one dollar can feed a family of three. That’s amazing, especially with food prices the way they are today.

    The body copy of the letter begins: “This is the time of year when we pause to reflect on what we’re grateful for…” It goes on in that vein for a few paragraphs, talking about hunger and the holidays.

    Then, here it is again: “every $1 you give to [charity] can help provide 3 meals – enough to feed a family in our community.”

    So, a little confusing here. First, $1 feeds a family of three. Then, $1 provides three meals. Apparently, feeding a family means just one meal per person. But that’s not the real difficulty here.

    No, the problem is the believability of the offer: $1 feeding a family of three. How could that possibly be? It’s just not a credible statement. It’s not believable. The letter explains that it’s “because of our network of food pantries and food bank partners,” but that’s really not much of a rationale.

    Wait, hold on a sec. I see what’s going on here. It’s that weasel-word “help.” “Every $1 can HELP feed a family of 3.” We’re not saying that every $1 actually will feed a family of three. No, we’re saying every $1 can help.

    Well, if that’s the case, then, technically speaking, every $1 that I give can help feed a family of 10. It can help feed all the families in the city. It can help feed all the families in the state. Technically, every $1 that I give can help end world hunger. Because, you know, wink, wink, we’re not saying that every $1 actually will end world hunger — we’re just saying that it can help.

    Call me skeptical, but this kind of thing seems a little questionable. It’s almost as if the charity is counting on donors simply glancing at this and thinking, “Hmm, one dollar feeds a family of three? Okay, I’ll give,” without even noticing the little weasel-word that undercuts the whole thing.

    It’s too bad. The appeal starts with a good template for an offer along the lines of “$XX will feed XX people,” but then it goes sideways. It uses numbers that strain credibility and defy simple common sense, and then on top of that, it makes the whole thing misleading for donors.

    First of all, why raise questions in donors’ minds with numbers and dollar values that seem completely unreasonable? Second, and probably more to the point, wouldn’t it have been better to figure out what the actual dollar value is for providing a meal, and then build a case for giving around that as an opportunity for donors to do good? That way, the offer to donors would be believable as well as credible. And at the end of the day, that’s the kind of offer that’s going to work best in the short term and the long term to move donors to give and keep them giving to support a cause.

  • These 3 things are probably killing your fundraising

    There are three big misconceptions that nonprofits tend to have about direct response fundraising. They’ll definitely bring down your results.

    Misconception 1: “Too much mail will turn donors off.”

    The fact is that donors like to give and want to give. And why not? Donors naturally want to do good. They want to make our world better. And they want to do it through your nonprofit – which is why they’re on your lists for mail and email in the first place. It just doesn’t make sense to ignore them. Let your donors hear from you.

    Misconception 2: “We need to educate donors about our mission.”

    There’s a place for educating and informing donors, but it’s not in your appeals. Your fundraising letters and emails should be all about your donors taking action. And that can start right at the beginning of the appeal with letter leads like “You have been specially selected to take part in this survey” and  “If your faith moves you to help children who are going hungry, please sign and return the petition I’ve enclosed. Here’s why” and  “I’m writing to you because I urgently need your help to overcome a budget shortfall that’s threatening to undo all the good we’ve accomplished together.” Your fundraising should be about action.

    Misconception 3: “The letter needs to sound like the executive director.”

    The fact is that most donors probably don’t know or care who the president or executive director is. That’s not why donors give. The fundraising for a nonprofit isn’t there to validate a particular nonprofit executive. It’s there to validate your donors. It’s the donor’s letter. It should be about her and her values. And if the letter should sound like anybody, it should sound like a friendly human being talking to another human being about something of concern to them both.

    There’s a lot more about these three misconceptions, and you can find it here: https://tinyurl.com/4uh3ek4c

  • Reaching mid-level donors with direct mail

    You probably hear a lot about mid-level donors, and that’s for good reason. For most nonprofits, these donors represent a major opportunity for short-term and long-term growth. It’s a revenue source that’s largely untapped. The potential is there, waiting to be realized.

    So, who are mid-level donors? Defining mid-level donors will vary for different nonprofits, of course, depending on the size of your nonprofit. But in general, for many nonprofits, mid-level donors are those who give about $1,000 to $9,000 a year.

    Another way to look at it comes from Sean Triner of Moceanic. The Pareto Principle tells us that 80 percent of your donations come from about 20 percent of your donors. That 20 percent consists of about 4 percent for major donors and about 16 percent for mid-level donors. Keep in mind, this is a rough guideline. It won’t work out exactly this way for every charity, but it gives you an idea of where to start in determining who your mid-level donors are.

    Defining your mid-level donors is a good first step. Because the real problem is that most nonprofits tend to overlook these important donors. That’s because they give too much to be considered typical annual fund donors, and at the same time, they give too little to be considered typical major donors. They’re the “middle child” in fundraising – the ones with loads of potential who nevertheless go unnoticed.

    And that’s too bad. Because when nonprofits cultivate and communicate with mid-level donors, it’s possible to:

    • Generate game-changing growth. Remember, mid-value and major donors give almost 80 percent of your revenue. But for many nonprofits, mid-level donors are underperforming. The potential is there for them to give more.
    • Create a class of donors who can be cultivated to move up to major giving.
    • Provide a stream of promising leads for planned giving and legacy gifts. Along with mid-level donors, bequest donors represent one of the best opportunities for revenue growth.
    • Increase donor retention, since donors who give at higher levels tend to remain more loyal.

    Successfully cultivating mid-level donors will require research, data analysis, as well as some means of personal contact, such as telephone calls or even personal donor visits. You’ll want to contact these donors in various ways – ways that correspond to their preferences, of course.

    It takes a comprehensive program. But one key to the program is a specialized direct mail appeal. All the analysis and fundraising strategy will come to nothing unless the approach to communicating with these donors is the right one.

    In general, mid-level donors are less transactional in their giving than most annual-fund donors and far more relational. This is why standard direct mail probably won’t work for them. But specialized direct mail can and will.

    What’s needed is a bigger, better, more strategic direct mail pack – not simply a fancier version of a typical annual-fund mailing.

    Mid-level donors need to be approached in a unique way that demonstrates the impact, stewardship, and engagement they expect. In general, they respond best when there’s a specific program or initiative, when they receive plenty of information, and when they’re acknowledged as being part of a group of select supporters.

    This specialized mail pack has higher production values than you’d use for regular donors. It often has a 9 x 12 envelope. It has a multiple-page letter, with copywriting that conveys the right tone and copy voice for higher-dollar donors. It’s on better-quality paper. It’s highly personalized throughout. It has multiple components – brochures, lift notes, inserts, and so on – that provide plenty of information, both in terms of factual information and emotional content. And it has a full-page reply device that not only presents the ask but reinforces the reasons to give. This is the kind of direct mail appeal that will tend to cut through the clutter and attract attention.

    A pack like this will of course cost more than the mailings you send to regular donors. But to reach mid-value donors and cultivate them, it’s important to focus not on cutting costs but on maximizing revenue. There may be areas in your fundraising where it makes sense to pinch pennies, but not here. A cheap direct mail appeal for mid value donors is likely to fail. But a higher-quality appeal that communicates the exclusivity, personal attention, insider status, and insider information that mid-level donors expect is likely to succeed and generate the revenue you want.

  • Should you do a year-end fundraising appeal?

    Yes, and here’s why.

    It’s one of the easiest appeals to create. And it can be one of the biggest revenue producers of the year. About 30 percent of most nonprofits’ revenue comes in between Giving Tuesday and December 31. At year end, donors are looking for a place to give. That place could be and should be your nonprofit.

    The messaging for the appeal is usually pretty straightforward, emphasizing the Dec. 31 deadline  and how your donor’s gift will help your nonprofit end the year strong and begin the New Year strong.

    The design of the appeal should be equally simple and straightforward. No need to go overboard on photos and graphics. In most cases, simple is best for year end.

    And don’t forget email. A lot of online giving happens in the last three or four days of the year. Your emails can and should be showing up in your donors’ inboxes, so that they can support the good work your nonprofit is doing.

    For more on year end fundraising, see Best Practices for Year-End Fundraising (nonprofitpro.com)