One of the hardest lessons a fundraiser has to learn is that fundraising is not an equal opportunity activity. If you want to get insider your donor’s mind, heart and wallet – and stay there – you have to focus on what your donors are telling you and remember that what they do is more indicative than what they say.
Developing a culture of asking donors for feedback using surveys, testing direct response methodologies and regularly reviewing reports to make actionable decisions is only as useful as the backbone of the fundraiser. In other words, if you are armed with all this information but still capitulate when facing opposition that is saying “Who cares what the donors say? Do it my way,” you are likely to have continual donor churn and not fulfill the potential of your donor file.
This is challenging – to say the least – for someone who wants to be the best fundraiser possible. So arm yourself with the facts (from surveys, testing and report review), and then think about compromises you can make that won’t compromise your fundraising.
- Need to start talking about a program that isn’t as fundable as the ones you already include in your fundraising? Begin with a series of articles in the newsletter that educate your donors and move them toward wanting to fund the project. This also gives you time to figure out the best way to talk about a program in language that your donors will embrace.
- When a project is confusing or less compelling to donors, rely on strong visuals when possible. Often a photo essay of a need will be more captivating than a longer article. Studies show our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, so use this to your advantage when introducing a new project that needs funding.
- Position the “gotcha’s” where they do the least amount of harm. For example, use underlining and bolding to guide the eye of a person who scans messages, and don’t emphasize the less-compelling copy you have to include. Use your prime real estate in a print newsletter or eNewsletter for the articles that will contribute most to the fundraising outcome, and put things that are more about internal politics where they are less prominent.
Organizations that thrive have learned how to get into a donor’s mind, heart and wallet by listening to the donor and catering to him or her (without sacrificing organizational integrity, of course). Get to know your donor and then use this knowledge to communicate to them, not just at them.