Fundraising Copywriter George Crankovic

Tag: donors

  • What makes a good offer for a fundraising appeal and what makes a bad one

    Why does the offer matter so much in direct mail fundraising? Let’s take a look at an appeal to find out.

    This is a fundraising appeal from a military nonprofit, and in the body of the letter, the first ask is this: Please let your service members know you stand with them by sending your most generous donation you can to [charity name] today.

    So that’s the call to action – to “stand with” service members. To be honest, that’s a problem. Because “stand with” is vague. It’s a generalization. It’s an abstraction. It’s up in the clouds, instead of being down-on-the-ground concrete.

    The donor isn’t being asked to solve a specific problem, help a specific person, or even to fund a specific initiative of this nonprofit. But to stand with service members. That doesn’t give the donor much to go on.

    The second ask in the letter doesn’t give much to go on either. It’s this: We rely on the generosity of individual Americans in supporting our military. That is why I am asking you to support our troops and their families by giving whatever you can afford to [charity name]. Your gift of $15, $25, or more will make a real difference in the life of a brave hero who is fighting for every one of us.

    A couple things here. The donor shouldn’t be asked to give to a charity. Donors aren’t motivated by giving to a charity. They’re motivated by helping someone or solving a problem or righting a wrong.

    But even beyond that, this ask is again general, vague, and nonspecific. The donor is asked to “support our troops,” but there’s no indication of what that means in this context or how giving a gift will accomplish it.

    Those two calls to action are in the body of the letter. Let’s take a look at the main call to action in the response device. It says: Please help strengthen our service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country. Your tax-deductible gift to [charity name] will also provide other much-needed services to our military heroes and their families.

    So, first we have “help strengthen our service members,” which is vague. Then we have “keeping them connected to family, home, and country.” Okay, that’s a hint of something. It’s good for service members to be connected to home. But how my gift would do that is not explained. Then there’s this: “…will also provide other much-needed services…” Other much-needed services? Like what?

    This offer provides almost nothing for the donor to latch onto. And in doing so, it fails to answer the donor’s most basic questions. Like, How will my gift help? What will it do? What problem will it solve? Who will it help? These are the questions that must be answered for the donor before she’ll even consider giving.

    In addition to that, instead of being asked to fund a small, specific part of the nonprofit’s mission, the donor is asked to fund the whole thing. That’s too big. It’s too much. Especially when that mission is something vague like keeping service members connected with family, home, and country.

    In direct mail fundraising, with the exception of the list, the offer that you make to donors is probably the most important part of the whole project. In large measure, it’s the offer that determines whether the appeal soars or sinks. Less so for the writing, the graphics, the logo, the size of the envelope, and so on. Those things are important, of course. But ultimately it’s the offer that provides the motivation to give. And if that offer is vague and mushy, then you can expect the response to be too.

  • Why a cup of tea means better fundraising

    More than you probably realize, your fundraising has a lot to do with Japanese green tea. As they say in direct mail letters, let me explain.

    See, I’m a big fan of Japanese green tea. I drink it all the time, and I’m very particular about the varieties of tea I like, how it’s brewed, how it’s enjoyed, where I get it from, and on and on. It’s a whole thing.

    My trusted source is a distributor on the West Coast that works with certain tea cultivars in Japan.

    Over the holidays, I got an email from this provider offering a free tea canister plus a special discount with an order of $50 or more. My first thought as soon as I saw that email was “I should order some tea.” Never mind that I already had plenty on hand (I rarely let my supply dwindle), and probably wouldn’t be ordering again for several weeks. And never mind that I don’t really want or use a tea canister (the foil package the tea comes in keeps it as fresh or fresher than a canister). And yet, despite those two reasons NOT to order, my immediate reaction was to tell myself that I should place an order and do it now.

    Right there, in that one simple example, is the amazing power of the offer and why it’s crucial for fundraising. The offer is the quid pro quo. It’s the “you give me this and I’ll give you that.” It’s the deal between buyer and seller. Now, this may seem purely transactional, and in one sense, it is, but it’s also so much more than that.

    The offer is inherently motivating. It’s one of the surest ways to get a prospect’s interest and show that prospect what’s in it for them. The offer is the single most effective thing that has ever been devised to move someone from inertia to action (except maybe a gun to the head, which when you think about it is an offer too).

    The offer is essential to all marketing, really, but it’s critical to direct response marketing.  It’s equally critical to fundraising – except that many nonprofits don’t seem to realize it.

    Most fundraising appeals don’t present the donor with a specific, compelling offer. Instead, what most donors see is a general, nonspecific, mushy sort of offer that basically consists of “donate some money to ABC charity.”

    Now suppose my tea vendor had sent me an email saying, in essence, “buy some tea.” My reaction would have been “uh, okay, maybe later.” But no, they didn’t do that. Instead, they made me a specific and compelling offer, and that offer is what turned a “maybe” into an “I should do this now.”

    It’s the same for a nonprofit. If your offer to donors is “give to fund our mission,” your likely generating a lot of “maybes.” Many, many nonprofits do exactly this, and it’s one of the reasons that cause a lot of donor appeals to underperform, failing to raise as much money as they could do.

    This is why it’s vital to think what the offer to your donors should be and how to present it in your fundraising appeals – online or offline. That’s what will motivate more donors to give and often to give more than they did before. In your fundraising appeals, the offer carries more weight than your logo, the size of the envelope, the font for the appeal letter, whether the email is long or short – any of those things. The offer is what engages your donors and motivates them to take action now. Yes, it’s that important.

    And yes, I did order more tea.

  • DON’T do this in fundraising appeals, and get better results

    In fundraising appeals, you should always thank your donors for their support, right? Wrong!

    You can see why in this example. The direct mail appeal from a farm-advocacy nonprofit begins like this:

    “Let me express my personal thanks for your generous support in this difficult year. Because of you, [charity] could work vigorously in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect America’s precious farmland and ranchland and keep family farmers and ranchers on the land.”

    The tone of this copy is all corporate memo. It’s not personal. It’s not conversational. But that’s not the real problem. The main thing that’s hurting this appeal is the opening that thanks donors for their support.

    You see this kind of opening again and again in fundraising appeals, and it’s hard to understand why. As an opening gambit, it’s just weak.

    First of all, a donor getting this might well assume that it’s a thank you letter for past support and simply stop reading.

    Second, a donor who gives to your nonprofit should be acknowledged for their gift in the thank you letters you send, in the newsletters you send, and in other communications. Not in appeals. Your appeal mailing is where you want to engage a donor with an exciting opportunity to make a difference.

    The headline, the subhead, and the lead paragraphs are your chance – consisting of only a few seconds – to attract your donor’s attention and keep her reading. You don’t do that by acknowledging a fact that your donor is likely already well aware of – that she gives to your organization. You do it, in most cases, by opening with a compelling offer.

    The second paragraph of this appeal goes like this:

    “All of us at [charity] are deeply aware of the growing threats to America’s farms and ranches and the urgent need to protect as much agricultural land as possible. The personal and economic impacts of the coronavirus have added new layers of pain and hardship onto countless families, which makes us especially grateful for your generosity right now.”

    Again, more corporate-memo copy. But that’s still not the real problem. The problem is that we’re well into this appeal and still there’s not even a whiff of an offer, not even a hint at something that would engage the donor in making a difference.

    In fact, it’s not until you get to the fifth paragraph that you see the offer – a matching grant.

    It’s hard to know why this idea of opening an appeal with a donor thank you persists, but it’s virtually always a bad idea.

    If you’re responsible for your organization’s fundraising, and your in-house team is giving you this, you should probably look outside of your four walls for creative strategy. Or if your agency is giving you this, you should look elsewhere for help. Or if you believe that appeals should start with a thank you, it’s time to challenge that assumption.

    So, bottom line, considering all of the above, how did this appeal perform? No idea. But it’s a pretty fair bet that it underperformed. However much money it raised, it could have raised more – probably a lot more – with the right creative strategy and the right structure for the appeal. And that’s a key point. Given how much time and money it takes to produce and send an appeal, it just makes sense to optimize everything. And that goes double for the messaging. Getting that right is essential to raising the funds your nonprofit needs.

  • Easy way to tell if your nonprofit will survive and succeed

    Here’s an easy way to find out whether your nonprofit is operating in a way that’s helping to ensure your current and future success.

    Not only is it easy, it takes nothing more than a few minutes of your time. And what you discover could really be eye-opening for you and your fundraising team. 

    This is what you do: You pretend you’re a donor who has just received one of your fundraising appeals in the mail, and you have a question. Now you simply pick up the phone and dial the phone number for your organization that’s on your fundraising. Then you sit back and see what happens.

    If your organization is like most, your call does not connect you with an actual living human being. No, that would be too easy. Instead it goes into the pit of despair known as the automated phone attendant.

    Okay, fine. There you are in the pit. But you realize that it happens to everyone at some point. So you stay positive, despite the despair, as you listen attentively to the computer voice explaining your options, meaning possible ways out of the pit and back into the sunshine.

    If you’re unlucky, the computer voice tells you to key in the extension of the person you want. But you don’t know anyone personally at the nonprofit. You just have a question about this appeal that you received. So you wait, hoping that you’ll be connected to a receptionist – which may or may not happen. Spoiler alert: there’s no receptionist, just the computer voice telling you that you can repeat the menu options. Oh boy!

    But let’s say you’re lucky. The computer voice rattles off a list of departments, and you hear “administrative office.” Your mood suddenly brightens. Yes, maybe that’s it – the administrative office. Do you dare to hope? You press the button, and miracle of miracles, the line is ringing.

    But do you hear a cheerful “hello” on the other end? No, that would be too easy. Instead, it’s voice mail, the second pit of despair that’s only slightly less demoralizing than the first.

    You hang up. It’s not worth the trouble. Defeated, you shake your head, thinking, “I just had a simple question: I want to give $100,000 – who do I talk to about that?”

    How many times has this happened and to how many charities? It’s impossible to know. What we do know is that most nonprofits can and should do more when it comes to basic donor service.

    Be accessible to your donors. If they call, make sure somebody answers the phone. If they email, make sure somebody replies. If they request information offered in an appeal, make sure they receive it. Spell their names right on their appeals. Keep track of how long they’ve been donors, and let them know that you know by acknowledging their giving anniversaries. Things like that – the basics.

    With all the high-minded talk about donor centricity and donor love and so on, it’s easy to get caught up in all the philosophical hand-waving that these topics tend to inspire. But as with most things, it’s often best to focus on the fundamentals, and you can’t get much more fundamental than this: Provide your donors with the basic service that they deserve and expect. It’ll pay off.

  • 5 emotional triggers for fundraising

    How do you create a strong connection with your donors? One way is to use emotional triggers in appeals. Let’s take a look at some, discussed in my guest post, that you’ll want to know about:

    1. Altruism. Altruism is concern for others, and it’s pretty much hard-wired into humans. One way to tap into it is with a compelling story about a beneficiary who’s suffering – a story that tugs on the heartstrings to elicit concern and sympathy. Other ways include adding photos that show need, reminding donors of past giving (acts of altruism), and coming out and saying, “You’re a good person. The fact that you’re reading this letter tells me you care about people who are hurting.”
    2. Outrage. Donors are inclined to take action when there’s a wrong that needs to be righted. Like altruism, it’s hard-wired. It goes to the very core of our sense of fair play, and when that’s violated, donors get riled up. “Look at what fracking does. It fouls the air we breathe. It pollutes the water we drink. It speeds up climate change. It’s destroying our planet. I’m not going to stand for it. Are you?”
    3. Guilt. This emotional trigger is one of the most powerful. Everyone has experienced it, and it’s part of almost any cause. When you contrast the donor’s relatively comfortable life with that of someone who’s homeless, say, or living in abject poverty in a developing country, the result is likely to invoke a feeling of guilt. “As I watched little Amina lying in that bed in the clinic, barely breathing, beyond hope, drifting away, I kept asking myself, ‘Why do we have so much when this innocent child in Ghana is starving to death?’”
    4. Fear. Judging from its use in commercial marketing, fear may be the single most powerful motivator. Don’t avoid it in fundraising. Use it to get donors involved. “When drug addiction increases, so does the crime that goes with it. What will happen in our neighborhoods? What will we do when burglaries and muggings skyrocket? How will we keep our homes secure? How will we protect our children?” To stir a powerful reaction from donors is to use fear as a motivator.
    5. Exclusivity. You want the donor reading your appeal to think she’s the most important person in the world in that moment. “Your generosity really sets you apart as a truly committed and beloved supporter. You’re at the heart of this work to end homelessness.” Exclusivity as a motivator is also a natural for sustainer appeals that invite donors to become monthly supporters. “You’re invited to join this select group of supporters who believe in putting a stop to child abuse.” Exclusivity is also an effective motivator in appeals to higher-dollar donors. “The extraordinary generosity you’ve demonstrated puts you way out front as a leading advocate in the pro-life movement.”

    You can use these in all kinds of ways in appeals, and it’s good to use as many as possible. They create a stronger connection between your donor and your cause – a connection that’s going to bring your donors closer to your nonprofit and motivate them to give.

  • 3 Reasons Why Your Non-Profit Should Add a Blog to Your Website

    by guest blogger Joe Garecht, President of Garecht Fundraising Associates.

    Every non-profit wants to raise more money online.  But most non-profits struggle to get traction raising money on their websites.  One of the reasons why organizations struggle online is because they simply don’t have enough people visiting their websites… and if people aren’t visiting your website, they’re not going to donate on it.

    In my experience, one of the best ways to get more people to visit your site… and to keep them coming back again and again… is to add a blog to your website.  Adding a blog to your non-profit’s site is easy to do and will provide huge rewards to your organization down the line.

    How is a Blog Different from a Website?

    The first question we need to answer is what we mean when we say “blog.”  A blog is different from a simple, static website – or rather, it is an addition to your traditional non-profit website.

    Your non-profit does need a traditional website where people can learn more about your non-profit and your programs, connect with your staff, sign-up to volunteer, and donate to your organization.  You need a good old-fashioned website with all of these things, the types of information that stays fairly constant.  This part of your website will be updated, but not every day or every week… those pages will stay pretty static, with only periodic updates made to them.

    Your non-profit’s blog is an add-on to your website.  It is one section of your website where you are constantly adding new things.  A blog is fluid and updated often.  You can be a little less formal on your blog, and you should be adding new things at least once or twice per month, though adding new information weekly is a better goal.

    How Can Adding a Blog Help Your Non-Profit?

    I believe that every non-profit that has at least one full time fundraiser or one full time communications staff member should maintain an active blog on their website.  There are 3 important ways that a blog can help your gain more traction with your website:

    #1: A Blog Gives Your Supporters a Reason to Regularly Visit Your Website

    If you want to grow traffic to your website, then your non-profit’s website needs to be more than just a brochure.  Your goal as a non-profit fundraiser is to get your donors to see your website as a resource – a place they want to visit regularly for updates about your organization.

    The only way your donors will want to visit your website often is if you are regularly updating your site, meaning that you are consistently posting new information that is interesting, informative, or entertaining.  The single best way to do this is by having a regularly updated blog on your website, where you post something new each week.  You can post an article, pictures, a video or any combination of the three, so long as you are doing it consistently.  Whatever is easiest and most appropriate for your non-profit.

    #2: A Blog Provides SEO Power That Brings New Donors and Supporters to Your Website

    It’s not just your current donors and supporters that you are trying to attract to your website.  You also want to make sure that new donors, new volunteers, new supporters, and others interested in your work can find your website and learn about your programs.  A good way for new supporters to connect with you is by finding your website when they use a search engine like Google.  One way to put your non-profit in a great position to get found in Google is by harnessing the power of SEO.

    SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  This is the process of putting content on your website in such a way so that when people search in Google for words and phrases related to your non-profit, Google gives them a link to your site.  Search engine optimization also includes getting other websites to link to your site, so that Google and other search engines know that your content is worth sharing.  One of the best ways to get people to link to your site is to post content that people want to share with others.

    The process of search engine optimization is complex and beyond the scope of this article, but you should know that having a blog is helpful for SEO because you are posting lots of new content that can be found by search engines and that people might want to link to.  This means that having a regularly updated blog will almost certainly increase traffic to your website.  The increase won’t happen right away, but as you add new articles or other content every week or every other week, your traffic will slowly build.   After a year of weekly blogging, you will likely see a significant jump in your web traffic year over year.

    #3: A Blog Shows That Your Non-Profit is Active and Engaged

    Having a regularly updated blog will show your donors, volunteers, and the community at large that your non-profit is active and engaged.  When someone comes to your website, they will see that you posted a new informative article last week, or maybe the week before that.  They will know that your non-profit is working hard and will be able to see what the latest news is from the frontlines of your programs.  This will help support your fundraising efforts, your PR efforts, and your volunteer recruitment efforts.

    What Type of Content Should You Put on Your Non-Profit’s Blog?

    When planning out your blog content, it is important that you not overthink it.  Don’t stress out about your blog content.  Instead, commit to putting up either a short article of at least 300-400 words, or a short video of 1 minute or more, or some pictures with an explanation, and doing it each and every week.  Consistency matters far more than perfection. Your posts can be informal  so long as they are still professional, meaning no typos and no outrageous grammatical errors.  But they don’t need to be perfect.

    As for the exact types of content that you can create for your blog, you should be posting the same types of information you are putting in your newsletters, such as updates on your programs, updates on your events, profiles of your clients, staff, and donors, important updates on your mission field, etc.

    In fact, many non-profits double dip with their content by posting blog articles and then using them as content in their newsletters… putting a summary of the article or the first paragraph of the article in their newsletter, with a link that says “Click here to read more.”  This way, all of your e-mail newsletter subscribers will stay updated with what you are posting on your blog, and you don’t have to write twice as many articles by doing one for your blog and a separate one for your e-mail newsletter.

    Adding a blog to your non-profit’s website will help you grow your website’s traffic, raise more money, and increase awareness of your organization.  It’s easy and effective.

    About the Author
    Joe Garecht is the President of Garecht Fundraising Associates.  He has twenty years’ experience as a Development Director, Executive Director, and fundraising consultant to hundreds of non-profits.

  • Coronavirus fundraising – there’s a better way

    Judging from what’s showing up in mailboxes and email inboxes, it looks like a lot of nonprofits are struggling with the messaging around the coronavirus crisis. But honestly, they’re making it much harder than it has to be.

    Take this example from a prominent aid and relief charity. The first paragraph begins with the new president and CEO introducing himself and then acknowledging that he’s stepping into his new role at a challenging time. “We’re all facing the coronavirus pandemic,” he writes. Uh…no kidding.

    So, apparently, this is a new-CEO letter, plus a coronavirus fundraising appeal. Generally, it’s not a great idea to try and do two things with one letter. It’s best when the letter has one purpose and one point.

    The next paragraph talks about how COVID-19 threatens everyone, especially the elderly and people with health conditions. There’s no need to waste time saying this. People have gotten this information thousands of times by now.

    In the third paragraph, the letter writer explains that he’s often asked if it’s difficult to be a CEO at this challenging time, and then assures us that the organization adapts to challenging times because of their strong teams. This comes off as way too self-serving, but beside that, it’s not good fundraising, because it’s about the organization not the donor.

    The next paragraph congratulates the front line health workers for their commitment and the organization’s supporters for their commitment. This is an okay sentiment, of course, but it shouldn’t be here, four paragraphs in, before we’ve even come to an ask.

    Paragraph five explains that all hands are needed on deck in this crisis, and asks, “Can you help us?”  Not “Can you help shut down the coronavirus?” But “Can you help US?” This is organization centric, not donor centric.

    It’s not until the sixth paragraph that we get to the real point of the letter: a donation to provide personal protective equipment for health workers. Before we get to that, though, the letter explains that the organization has already shipped tons of PPE for health workers.

    Hang on a minute – so the organization has already shipped tons of PPE and now they’re asking for a donation to ship PPE? That’s a strange way to present an ask. Why would you tell a donor, right before the ask, that you’ve already done the very same thing you’re asking the donor to do? Sort of takes the edge off of the urgency, doesn’t it?

    There’s a far better way to structure this appeal, and it starts with the opening. Begin with the real and urgent need for PPE. This is something, given the wall-to-wall news coverage, that every donor will immediately get. Then show the donor how her gift fulfills that need, ideally with a specific and compelling offer. Something like: “Your gift of $XX sends XX pairs of gloves. Your gift of $XX sends XX masks.” And so on.

    It’s one of the basic best practices of disaster fundraising. In many disasters, the news coverage provides the background, which means that donors mainly need to know how they can help and what their help will do. If it takes five or six paragraphs of blab to get to this point, most donors will be long gone.

    There’s a basic framework for structuring disaster-fundraising appeals, and it doesn’t include talk about the commitment of your staff, your organization’s history, your organization’s flexibility, generalities about how much of a threat coronavirus is, and similar things. They’re just not relevant. They take the donor’s eye off the ball.

    What disaster fundraising does require is a compelling expression of the need, a clear case for the urgency of the donor’s gift, and a strong offer that details what the donor’s gift will do. All focused around one core idea. Because when the appeal has one purpose and one point, there’s a far greater chance that it’s going to break through, connect with donors, and raise more money.

  • Coronavirus fundraising and what not to do

    Fundraising for the coronavirus emergency is, well, unusual so far.

    A soup kitchen sends an email with the subject line “A message from the president.” If you’re a donor scanning your email inbox, that could be just about anything.

    Then when you open it, there’s still no indication. The headline says “A message from the president.” So you read the first line: “I want to keep you informed about our response to the growing coronavirus threat and the impact it’s having across the country.”

    The following paragraphs talk about how the organization’s main priority is health and safety, working with local officials, taking the coronavirus threat seriously, taking necessary precautions, following CDC guidelines, and so on. The email goes on like this for five long paragraphs.

    Only at the very end does it mention that costs for extra cleaning supplies and other measures have caused a budget shortfall. And only at the very end is there an ask for support.

    In a similar vein, an email from an international aid and relief charity opens with an announcement that the WHO has officially declared the coronavirus to be a global pandemic. It goes on to talk about how the organization is taking steps to protect its staff and clients, how it has launched preparedness efforts, and how they’re dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable. There’s a link to a webpage that lays out the organization’s plan. There’s no ask in this email. It’s all informational.

    Question is, Why is this emergency being treated differently from any other emergency that people and nonprofits would deal with … any other tornado, hurricane, flood, fire? Why the form-letter, corporate-sounding pronouncements from on high?

    There’s no need for a charity to issue a formal public statement about the coronavirus. Donors know all about it. The news coverage has been wall-to-wall for weeks now.

    The best practices for disaster fundraising are pretty well established. They could and should be put to use in this disaster too.

    The email from the soup kitchen could open with a subject line and a headline that talk about helping to protect people from coronavirus.

    It could go on to talk about how the homeless people, volunteers, and staff are facing serious risks, and how need for cleaning supplies, disinfectant, cleaning crews, and more is incredibly urgent.

    Then it could have a specific and direct ask to fund the supplies and other actions needed.

    That would be along the lines of a typical disaster fundraising appeal. Lots of charities will need additional funding in this coronavirus emergency just as aid and relief organizations need additional funding after a hurricane, and there are specific best practices for disaster fundraising that show how to secure that funding. We should use them.

     

  • Ask yourself, “Would I donate to this?”

    A direct mail appeal from an international aid and relief charity opens with:

    “Five of Sayo’s children died because of dirty water. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?”

    Okay, we have a statement of need that maybe the donor can do something about. But then, right after that, there’s this:

    “After I shared her story last month, thousands of people responded generously in support of families like hers. Thank you!”

    Hang on a sec – so, thousands of people responded? That’s great, so why do you need me to give? And what’s with the thank you? I didn’t give to that previous appeal, so what are you thanking me for?

    Then, right after that, we get to the ask:

    “Your generous gift of $25 can help save more lives.”

    Which is fine (if a bit vague), BUT …

    The part earlier about how people have already given undercuts the argument for donating to this appeal. The donor sees “thousands of people responded – thank you!” and naturally thinks, “Well, I guess we’re done here – no need to go any further.”

    Of course there’s more to the letter than these few opening paragraphs, but the lead has to be right, because if it’s not, you’ll lose the reader that fast.

    But, hey – who knows – maybe this appeal did great. Maybe this particular set of donors is unique in the way they respond. Maybe they’ve grown used to overlooking this kind of messaging from the charity. Maybe there’s some diabolically clever reverse psychology going on here – we’re getting you to give by telling you we don’t need your stinkin’ gift. Or maybe this appeal is part of a global master plan that’s playing out on a 3-D chessboard. Who knows?

    What we do know is that this tactic of opening an appeal by thanking donors and telling them that everything’s great seems to persist. Even though it clearly fails to engage the reader – which you can prove to yourself:

    “Dear Ms. Smith (pretend that’s you), our donors are giving like crazy, and things are just zooming along. Thank you!”

    There – do you feel like your donation is needed? No? That’s why this kind of approach doesn’t make sense, and why it isn’t best practice for direct response.

    The irony is that opening an appeal by talking about success and thanking the donor seems like a safe bet, but it’s really not. It doesn’t pull donors in the way it might seem like it should. In fact, it leaves donors out by telling them they’re not needed.

    Usually, the most reliable way to engage donors is by presenting them with a believable problem that they can do something to solve. That’s what pulls donors in, and that’s the approach with a far better chance of moving them to give.

  • Are your fundraising appeals repetitive? Good

    Effective copywriting for fundraising is weird. It has a lot of characteristics that seem to be the opposite of what’s right. One of these is repetition.

    Good copy for an appeal tends to repeat some things over and over. To the uninitiated, this seems wrong.

    In our English composition classes in school, we’re taught to make a point and then move on, continuing to make successive points until the conclusion. That’s basic expository writing – which is nothing like copy for an appeal.

    That’s because most donors probably won’t read an appeal letter from beginning to end. They tend to skip around. So we repeat key things in order to catch the reader’s attention at various points in the appeal. But there’s another reason to use repetition, and it’s based on science.

    In this study, the researchers wanted to test the assumptions people make about what they read and hear. So, they designed a test in which subjects were given sets of statements to review. Some of the statements were true, some were false, and some were repeated. The statements were generally expressions of fact (or what appeared to be fact), like “Zachary Taylor was the first president to die in office.”

    The upshot is that the repeated statements were more likely to be judged as true, compared with similar statements that were not repeated. So, if you saw the statement, “Zachary Taylor was the first president to die in office” again and again, you’d tend to think it was true, even without looking it up. (It’s not true, by the way. William Henry Harrison was the first.)

    Think about what this means for fundraising copy. First, though, a caveat: of course we wouldn’t repeat a false statement in order to make it seem true to donors. That would be unethical.

    But if we want to enhance the believability of a true statement, then repetition is one way to do it – and a very effective way. It could be a statement like, “Your gift will transform lives.” Naturally we’d want donors to believe that true statement.

    Or maybe it’s a statement that’s true but strains credulity a bit, like, “Your gift will multiply 1,000 times in impact.” In order for an offer like that to be effective, it would have to be believable for donors. Repetition would be one way to accomplish that.

    There are lots of ways to use repetition in appeals. And it’s good to. Repetition is there for a reason. Its use in appeals is purposeful and strategic. Don’t avoid it. Embrace it for better results.