Passionate Persuasion

 Direct Mail, Nonprofit  No Responses »
Feb 242012
 
“Passionate people are the only advocates which always persuade. The simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without.”
~Francois de La Rochefoucauld

When I interviewed the executive director of an environmental organization recently, he was extremely eager to give me statistics about Congressional budgeting as it relates to the environment and to talk about specific legislation winding its way through Congress – down to the subcommittees and staffers involved. I think we can all agree that only the most wonky among us have that level of interest in environmental legislation.

So I asked him why he cared so much. There must be a reason he was willing to delve so deeply into the minutiae of the legislative process on this one issue, right? It took him a few minutes to shift gears, but once he did, he talked about what prompted him to become an environmentalist, his outrage at what he sees as the immoral way government is spending taxpayer money, and his fears for the future of humanity if we ignore Global Warming.

In just a few minutes, we went from a dry fact piece about Congressional spending on the environment, to a Control-tying acquisition letter based on an impassioned plea for moral and humane fiscal decisions.

It’s easy to get caught up in the facts about what you’re doing – and for a lot of people working in nonprofits, people who face desperate circumstances every day as a part of their job, it’s an important method of self-preservation. But when you’re trying to get people to support your mission, you have to be able to recreate that initial surge of passion. Because all the facts in the world won’t get you as much support as one good, emotion-driven story.

This is where that old writing rule “Show, Don’t Tell” comes in.

Need an Example?

It’s easy to tell your story like this: “Every week we see more than 50 homeless, often ill, dogs come into our shelter. And tragically, fewer than 20% of those are adopted. As our canine population grows, our needs grow, too, and today, we’re facing a crisis situation. We urgently need an infusion of $XX to house, feed and care for the dogs we currently have and those we expect in the next few weeks.”

You’ve got the numbers, it’s pretty emotional, and your core group of donors will probably respond.

But consider this approach: “Zoe cowered in the back of her dog carrier, shaking. I looked at her check-in sheet: She’d been abused in her previous home, and she suffered from malnutrition and a bad case of fleas. I got down on the floor, my eyes fixed on her big brown beauties, and coaxed her forward. It took a while, but eventually, she scooted out of her carrier, calmed her shaking, and placed her head trustingly in my lap. One small triumph…that will be replayed more than 50 times this week. You can help Zoe – and all the dogs of XX shelter – make this challenging transition…”

Who can resist a pitch like that? By painting the picture of one dog the shelter has helped, you give your donor the chance to feel like they are there with you. What’s more, this approach breaks down an overwhelming problem – 50 dogs a week that need homes – into a small, do-able task. They may not be able to help every dog that needs them, but they can help this ONE dog.

Very few people dive into the nonprofit world without having some passion. So don’t forget why you chose nonprofit work in the first place. Communicate that in your fundraising, and you’ll find others flocking to your organization as well.

 Posted by Richelle at 12:14 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

The STOP List

 Nonprofit  No Responses »
Jan 092012
 

Broken down systems slowing you down? Try a Stop List for 2012.

I’m a sucker for New Year’s Resolutions lists, even though I rarely make them myself. There’s something so hopeful about them, as if by simply writing down the things we hope to do, we can make our lives better.

I often wonder, though, if the things we wish we were doing really are the most important to focus on. Perhaps it would be more helpful to make a list of things we’re doing that we should strive to STOP doing. So with that in mind, here’s my list of bad fundraising habits that you should banish in 2012.

STOP promising the moon.

When the pressure’s on, it’s hard not to make any promise you can in the hopes that you’ll be able to come through. But aiming for the stars when you’re traveling in an old jalopy is an exercise in futility.

Make your goals realistic and achievable for where you are right now. Small successes lead to bigger successes. And if you can build on those successes, you’ll be able to promise the moon when you can actually deliver it.

STOP playing it safe.

This might seem like the opposite of the above, but I think the two go hand-in-hand. When you’re promising more than you can deliver on one project, you’re forced to play it safe in other areas to compensate.

The best way to have a successful year is to try new things, reach out to new people, engage new experts, and test, test, test.

STOP wallowing in your mistakes.

We all make mistakes. But dwelling on them doesn’t make you better, it makes you more paranoid. Embrace your mistakes, and find the nuggets of wisdom that come from them.

STOP downplaying your successes

Normally, I’m not a fan of those who toot their own horns, since far too often, those who talk about how hard they’re working are just that: all talk.

But if you have a successful fundraising event, help craft a winning direct mail package, or convince a donor to give more than she’s given in the past, make sure you share those successes with your board, your volunteers and your staff. Hold those triumphs up as examples of what can be done…and challenge your people to beat them.

I’m going to work on these things this year, and I challenge you to develop your own Stop List for 2012.

 Posted by Richelle at 3:14 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Storytelling 101

 creativity, Nonprofit  No Responses »
Dec 072011
 

Young or old, we all like a good story!

 

You’ve no doubt heard about the importance of storytelling to nonprofits. As a writer with an English Lit. degree, I love a good story, and one of the best parts about my job is uncovering those stories and sharing them with my clients’ donors.

But what makes a good story? And how do you tell your story in a way that moves your donors to give?

A Story Has a Destination

A story can be as simple as “I went to the store. I bought three grapefruit. I returned home.” But how inspiring is that?

You want your story to arc from the kernel that starts it all, through the challenges in the middle, to a satisfying resolution. Once you’ve written your story, you should be able to point to each section and see how the details you’ve chosen propel the reader forward.

Your story should always arrive somewhere. Most of the time, this destination will be different from the place you started, but sometimes you’ll end up in the same place you began. Either way is fine, but there must be some destination.

A Story Has Significance

When you arrive at your story’s destination, it means something. A lesson was learned, a decision was made, an epiphany occurred — something about your destination offers your audience some true, deep knowledge they didn’t have at the beginning.

For most nonprofit organizations, the stories will often be about how your work helped a person. So when you’re telling that story, think about how your work impacted that person’s life. What would have happened without your intervention? How were minds and hearts opened? Ask your reader to imagine what would happen if this story were repeated with other people.

What does it mean that your organization exists?

A Story Helps Us Understand Our World

Since the beginning of time, people have been telling stories as a way of explaining the unexplainable in our world. You can harness this power in your own storytelling.

One good story explains who your organization is helping, what innovative tools you’re using, why your organization’s mission is important, how you’re using your resources to make a difference, and how your donors can help. A well crafted story will give your donors everything they need to understand why they should give to you.

A Story Helps Create Community

Doubt the power of a good story to unite us? Consider the Twilight phenomenon.

When you knock it out of the park, your story will get read and passed around…it will get noticed. And those who notice it will have that bond that comes from shared experience and understanding. Telling the stories of the work you do to your donors is one of the most effective ways to connect your donors to your organization and keep them giving for years to come.

Stories have power, and the better you learn to tell them the more power you’ll have.

Check out the Mercy Corps blog for great examples of nonprofit storytelling. And if you want more on the art of storytelling, I loved this article from Jane Friedman’s blog.

 Posted by Richelle at 10:19 am  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

 Nonprofit  Comments Off
Nov 212011
 

This fall has been a whirlwind of activity — from kids’ school and soccer, to a husband in grad school, and a work load that threatened to bury me in direct mail. There were more than a few moments I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up the pace.

A friend of mine once told me that if you work for a nonprofit, you will always have work on your desk and exhaustion in your bones.

And these days, when more organizations are trying to meet increased need with decreased resources, I think that’s more true than ever. If you don’t find a few moments during the year to remember why you do what you do, you’ll go bonkers…or worse, burn out completely.

So now that I have a light, short week in which to take a breath and reflect, I want to jot down a few of the things I’m thankful for…things I haven’t been able to see amidst the deluge of responsibilities this past few months.

  • Clients who consistently surprise and delight me. It is so much easier to endure crunch time with people who appreciate what we’re trying to accomplish and who collaborate fully and openly. What a treat!
  • Family support. Even my four-year-old knows when Mama needs a break, and my husband and three children are my biggest caretakers…and biggest fans.
  • Friends and neighbors who step up, no questions asked. Whether it’s providing emergency child care, donating a hot meal, helping me network, or volunteering to proofread my latest letter, these people have my back!
  • Work that I believe in. One of the best things about my job is being able to channel my creativity into efforts that make the world a better place to live.
  • Connectivity. I’m old enough to remember how cumbersome working at home used to be, and I’m thankful every single day for the tools that allow me to work with people all over the world from a corner of my kitchen.

There are, of course, many other things I’m thankful for — my home, my town, my good health, the bottle of wine on my counter, peppermint jojos from Trader Joe’s, and more. But those are the biggies.

Try to take a moment this week to think about what makes you thankful in your job and in your life. Colleagues? Donors? Small successes or huge triumphs?

Nonprofits are busy places at year’s end, and sometimes the only way to make it to the other side is to remember what keeps you going. So, what are you thankful for this year?

 Posted by Richelle at 11:07 am  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Your Fundraising Letter: the 3 Pillars of Persuasion

 Uncategorized  Comments Off
Nov 022011
 

When you sit down to plan out your next fundraising letter, of course you’ll remember to write to one donor, have one signer, make it personal (by using a lot of “I, you, we”) and keep your paragraphs short and your key ideas and asks highlighted. And still it might not be enough to push your letter from “solid” to “solid gold!”

So take another look at your copy and see if you’ve used arguments from all three Pillars of Persuasion.

Intellectual

The Intellectual Argument is often one of the easiest for people to make. We’re used to collecting facts and figures to back up our positions. Numbers can tell a powerful story to many people. After all, it’s hard to argue with cold hard statistics.

A letter I received recently from World Wildlife Fund tells me that “The average American uses 350 plastic bags each year.” That’s nearly one for every day of the year! It goes on to report that “Every year, more than 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and birds die as a result of plastic bags.” I — like probably most of the people WWF mailed to — really try to limit my use of plastic bags, but as I sit at my computer, I can look over at my recycling area and see a few poking out.

I hope I use fewer than the average 35o bags per year, but I know that if 100,000 wild animals are being killed by plastic bags, then using any bags at all is too many. Those numbers convinced me.

But you can’t rely on numbers alone.

Emotional

When you’re asking people to part with their hard-earned cash, you have to move them emotionally. One easy way to do that is to paint a picture of the problem they’re helping to solve. Animal rights groups can describe the deplorable conditions for animals raised on factory farms. Environmental groups can show the suffering of children with pollution-induced asthma or the rapid disappearance of ancient stands of old-growth trees.

Tell a story related to your mission, include a photo of someone impacted by your work, or talk about a moment that moved you.

Make your audience feel the importance of your cause and the passion of everyone in your organization to solve it.

Moral

Most of us believe we are moral people, and your direct mail package can give your donors an easy way to exercise their moral muscles. Remind them that their support places them on the side of Right. Knowing that by giving to your organization they are in fact standing up for their principles is a huge motivator for many people.

Which brings me to the silent 4th pillar:

Know your audience.

Some audiences respond more consistently to well-reasoned arguments and solid facts, while others are consistently swayed by a moral ask, and still others care little for facts and respond solely to emotional pleas. Test different ways of framing your ask to see how your audience responds.

 Posted by Richelle at 4:08 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Lessons from a Soccer Fundraiser

 Uncategorized  Comments Off
Oct 102011
 

I have two daughters who play soccer with the local youth soccer organization. It makes for some action-packed weeks in the fall and the spring!

It also puts us in line for every fundraiser the soccer organization conducts — team photos, individual photos, MLS and college team partnership promotions and ticket sales. Most of the time, I’m happy to participate and feel glad to be contributing to sports programs for kids in our community.

But the other day, I received an email from someone affiliated with the soccer organization demanding that each parent on my older daughter’s team purchase two tickets to a local university soccer game, chiding those who had not yet contributed.

Now, as it happens, we’d already purchased tickets for our family through our younger daughter’s team. I explained that to the representative who emailed me back saying, “Okay, you’re fine then.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa! I know this person is almost certainly a volunteer, but somebody with the soccer club needs to give their volunteers a lesson in donor relations!

So let’s examine what went wrong with this Ask and figure out how it could have been done better.

The Offer

The first email we received about this particular fundraiser contained no details, just a vague mention of the need to purchase tickets to a soccer game at the university. I didn’t know who was playing the game — was it our kids? Or the university team? Or an exhibition game for our local MLS team? I didn’t know when the game was scheduled. Would we even be able to attend if we did purchase the tickets? And how was the money raised going to be used by the club?

The Ask

I know that no fundraising professional out there would demand a gift. But do you train your volunteers and program staff how to ask for donations? It’s all too easy for a volunteer to take a simple request that each family buy two tickets and turn it into extortion. Make sure they understand that donations are voluntary. And no one should ever be chided for declining to participate.

The Thank You

And of course, every donor should be thanked, genuinely and promptly. Tell them what their contribution means to the organization. Do my tickets to the university soccer game help pay for club equipment? Or scholarships for budding soccer phenoms in need? Make sure I know that up front and remind me when you say a heartfelt “Thank you.”

Don’t let anyone in your organization — staff, volunteer or friend — inadvertently create ill-will as they try to help raise money. Drill in the importance of treating donors with respect and gratitude, and you’ll see donations rise.

 Posted by Richelle at 12:11 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

What Nonprofits Can Learn from Netflix

 Nonprofit  2 Responses »
Sep 192011
 

I read the email from Netflix Co-Founder and CEO Reed Hastings this morning with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. A lot of people have summed up the new changes, which include dividing the company into two entities, with Netflix responsible for streaming video, and the new unfortunately named Qwikster responsible for DVDs. Despite Mr. Hastings’ emotional admission that he “messed up”, his statement remains almost as tone deaf as the one he made earlier this year when he announced controversial new price structures.

Which is why I think the Netflix debacle holds a great lesson for nonprofits.

A lot of nonprofits have had to reinvent, restructure and reassess over the last few years of economic turmoil. Some have cut back on donor newsletters and magazines, others have laid off staff, sold assets, and consolidated services. A lot of the time, you can get away with making big changes without informing donors. But when financial or other concerns force you to make big public changes, how do you communicate that to your loyal donors?

Not like Netflix.

The big mistake the Internet media company made wasn’t raising its prices or splitting its business — or even lacking “respect and humility”. It was not understanding what its customers liked about the service it provided.

When I read Mr. Hastings’ statement, I wondered if anyone in the PR department actually uses the Netflix service. Customers flocked to Netflix because they could get DVDs and streaming content. They saw the company as a content-delivery service with multiple avenues for delivering that content.

But the company saw itself differently. Where customers saw one service, Netflix saw two (DVD and streaming) and decided to charge for each. Which they probably could have gotten away with pretty easily had they made moves to separate the services in customers’ minds before they announced the big price hike. (I have no words for the new Qwikster service. WHY are they making it harder for people? Why?)

The lesson: You must listen to your donors. Know how they perceive your organization, what they like and what they don’t like. See where their goals and your goals meet and where they diverge. If you must make a change you know will be unpopular, see if you can steer your communication efforts so that your donors will understand where you’re headed and why.

You’ll always get complaints, and most of the time, that’s good. It means your donors are paying attention.

But if you understand where they are coming from, you can communicate your changes more effectively, and avoid the kind of controversy — and mass exodus of once-loyal supporters — Netflix has enjoyed the last few months.

 Posted by Richelle at 3:41 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Three Ways to Collect Testimonials

 creativity, Nonprofit  Comments Off
Sep 062011
 

Collecting testimonials can happen out in the field, on the phone or during events!

We all know we should be collecting testimonials from our Members, board members, constituents, volunteers and those affected by our organization’s work. They’re the stuff of fundraising gold, able to leverage gifts more effectively than any facts and figures can ever do.

But how do you collect them?

Listen

Nonprofit professionals work long, hard, often thankless hours. By the time you answer that 50th phone call or head off to that Friday night Member event, it’s hard to remember what your own name is, much less to muster the energy to actively chase down testimonials.

So don’t.

All you have to do is listen. People want to tell you their stories. They want you to know why they support your organization and what your cause has meant to them. Give them the space to say what they want to say, and they’ll give you the gift of a shining testimonial. (You might have to take notes, though!)

Ask the Right Questions

Some people need more guidance than others. If you find yourself with someone who has a story to tell but doesn’t know how to tell it, ask them a few questions to get them thinking in the right direction:

  • How did you become involved with this organization/issue?
  • Why are you passionate about it?
  • What have you seen personally that drives you to support this organization/issue?
  • What does the organization’s work accomplish? For you? For your community? For the world?
  • What would the world look like if this problem was solved?
  • What are the barriers to solving it?

Any one of these questions can get people’s testimonial juices flowing — and give you oodles of great stuff to use in your fundraising.

Get Everyone In On the Act

Testimonials are great for fundraising, but collecting them is not just the job of fundraisers. In fact, the best testimonials often come from program staff as they’re out in the field because they’re the ones who see firsthand what needs to be done and how your organization is progressing.

All staff members — program staff, executive staff, board members, interns and volunteers — should be on the lookout for good testimonials.

Make it easy for everyone with these ideas:

  • Create a special Testimonials folder on the file server
  • Put a box on the conference table for collecting handwritten stories
  • Make a My Story form donors and friends can fill out at events
  • Learn how to use the audio recording feature on your smartphone so you can capture stories in the moment
  • Give a prize for “Testimonial of the Month”
  • Start every staff meeting off by reading one or two of the stories you’ve collected to inspire and inform

How does your organization collect and share testimonials? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

 Posted by Richelle at 11:39 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

It IS Personal

 Nonprofit  Comments Off
Jul 282011
 

Direct mailer writers always talk about making our mail ”personal”. For us that means lots of “I, you, we”, using a conversational tone, and, quite often, fudging the rules of grammar a bit.

But the other day, a couple of things happened that reminded me that there is another way to keep things personal — something it’s all too easy to forget in this day and age of social media connections and conducting business by e-mail.

First, I ran into an acquaintance who runs an arts organization. She was thrilled because her group had just been notified that they were the recipients of a big grant. I congratulated her, and she told me this story:

“You know, we thought for sure we were out of the running this year. The group giving the grant just announced they were eliminating arts funding! So when I got word, I immediately called them up to say ‘thank you’. The man in charge of granting the awards told me that he had gone against the new policy specifically for us because he remembered meeting our Executive Director and having a great conversation with her at an unrelated event. Personal connections really do count!”

Do they ever.

A similar thing happened to me a couple of months ago. A client I’d been working with for a couple of years went through some restructuring. They completely reevaluated all of their old contracts with an eye on reinventing their program from the ground up. I fully expected to lose the business.

But the Development Director called me up and asked that I stay on, one of the few contractors asked to do so. Now, I’m sure my strong work ethic and quality product played a part in that decision. But the tipping point?

I took the time while on a vacation in their city to stop by and meet the gang at their office.

This wasn’t actually a calculated move on my part. At the time, I had no idea that they were planning on restructuring. I just wanted to be able to put faces to the e-mail addresses and conference call voices. But those couple of hours out of my vacation paid off.

Those face-to-face connections are important — maybe even more so now that so many of us do business with people across the country…or across the globe. It might take a little extra time and effort, but the payoff could make it all worth it.

 Posted by Richelle at 1:06 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Angling for donors

 Nonprofit  Comments Off
Jul 182011
 

It's hard work reeling in donors. Don't leave the fishing to amateurs.

The other day, I overheard a development professional I know telling a potential client, “I like to let board members have input into all direct mail copy.”

My alarm bells went off, and I wanted to jump in and offer all sorts of unsolicited opinions about that. But instead, I decided I’d just save them for you.

Now, he went on to explain that he likes to involve board members so they have buy-in to the direct mail program — a sort of “We’re all in this together, folks!” idea. I am all for inclusion and board buy-in.

In fact, I believe wholeheartedly that everyone involved in your organization, from the board president to the once-a-month volunteer, should know what’s going on in the organization and be able to communicate that.

But.

A few years ago, I wrote a letter for an organization run by a very respected, very intelligent scientist. He was widely published in prominent scientific journals and national newspapers and magazines. He was a great writer, and he hated the letter I wrote for them. Ripped it to shreds. He deplored the overly emotional tone and the use of 2nd person point-of-view. He was adamant that his donors would see through such a hackneyed ask and leave the organization in droves.

Naturally, I was upset. I had worked extremely hard getting the complex technical details in the appeal right and melding those with the kind of impassioned, personal plea I know works in direct mail.

The development staff and I sat down and discussed how to proceed, and eventually, we convinced the executive director to test his approach vs. my approach. The results were definitive in my favor.

Now, this guy was a Ph.D. He had a couple of decades of experience in writing about his subject on me. But he didn’t — at that time — know direct mail at all.

Unless your board members — or other people you’re asking to read your direct mail copy — are or have been involved with direct mail before, it is likely that they’ll look at a good appeal letter and see all the same things my scientist client saw: hyperbole, simplified language, lots of “you”, too much bold and underlines — things that academic writers are trained to avoid like the plague.

There’s a reason hopeful anglers like to hire guides when they go on a big fishing expedition: they want an expert to show them where the fish are and what they’re biting on. Rather than tossing their lines out and seeing what happens, they’re taking the expert’s advice and adapting it to their equipment.

Your direct mail program needs that same care. If you take bits of advice from every angler on the river, you’re not going to catch as many donors as you want.

Buy-in is great. But educated buy-in is better. So make sure anyone reviewing your direct mail letters has a good Direct Mail 101 course — or at least read an article like this one from Fundraising Success — before they toss in their line. And happy fishing!

 Posted by Richelle at 10:59 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
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