Category: case for support

So just today I got an email from an organization that I admire very much. They do great work supporting a cause I care a lot about and they are a lynchpin of their community. Their email was a request for funding, a relatively small but not insignificant amount of money, and a fairly deadline for reaching their fundraising goal. I thought about giving a few dollars to help them out, but first I asked a few questions.

The first question I wanted to know was, “Well, why do you need the money?” They state up front that they are facing an operating deficit. Okay, that makes sense, but why? Was it a failure to raise funds? Did one of your major donors not give this year? Is membership down? Or was it poor budgeting and financial management on your end? What happened that you have this shortfall? Because your answer may influence my willingness to give, particularly if it pertains to questions about how you manage the organization.

Secondly, what’s the urgency? Why now? And then I saw a qualifier I hope I never see in any other fundraising appeal: “nothing life-threatening.” Now, this is 100% true: this is an arts organization and no one will die if they drop a few programs or services. But still, why are you downplaying the importance and urgency of this appeal? Granted, hyping up the urgency isn’t going to help either, but why are you reminding your potential donors that they don’t really have to give? They even state that the shortfall is only 3% of their budget. Stop downplaying your need!

To their credit, they do point out that they will have to cut programs and services if they do not meet their gap. Okay, so now I’m concerned again. What programs and services? How will I be affected? How will other constituents be affected? Unfortunately, they list out the major services they provide as a reminder of the things they do, but it’s not clear that they will cut these programs (the foundations of their organization) or what if any changes they will make to them. What are the consequences of not giving? Again, why is this important and why is it urgent?

Finally, what are the benefits of giving? They point out that if we help them meet their goal then they will start the next fiscal year on sound footing. Okay… But what’s in it for me? I know it sounds selfish, but compelling fundraising appeals frame things from the perspective of the recipient, not the sender. Because this organization wasn’t clear about how any cuts will affect me, I also don’t know how meeting this small, non-life-threatening gap is going to benefit me or make any difference for the things I care about.

So, let’s recap a few important lessons to learn from this appeal:

1. Always state the need up front.
2. Make it clear why this need is important and urgent.
3. Don’t downplay the important and urgency of your appeal.
4. Be specific and concrete when talking about the need and the consequences.
5. State the benefits (or costs) to the donor as it relates to what they care about.

How do you write fundraising appeals? What are some best practices you’ve encountered? What are some things to avoid doing when writing an appeal?

It happens time and time again: an organization puts forth messages about why its cause is important but it doesn’t get the kind of response it hoped for. It’s bizarre, right? I mean, obviously the work is important. Why else would someone dedicate so much of her time and effort to a cause if it wasn’t important? Why would anyone dedicate his life to it?

The problem isn’t that your cause isn’t important (because it is). The problem is that there are lots of important causes out there.

There are more than 1.1 million nonprofits in the United States, all of them working on important issues. Donors have lots of options for where to put their support – more than they can actually support – and you’re competing against them. So it’s not just why you’re important, but why you’re more important than those other causes.

Yes, this is a somewhat subjective challenge. After all, what’s important to one person may not be to another. But that’s exactly the point. People are different: different opinions, different values, different interests. And the way to show that you’re more important is to appeal to those opinions, values, and interests. You’re talking about why the problem is important to you when you should be talking about why it’s important to your target audience.

Understanding your target audience is critical to crafting effective messages. You need to speak to their values, their interests, their concerns. We often think we have to prove that our cause is important, but it’s more that we have to prove that our cause is important to them. The question to ask yourself isn’t “Why do I care about this?” but rather “Why do they care?” Then, not only will your messages resonate with your audience, but you’ll stand out from the rest of the pack.

Do your messages speak to your audience’s values? How does your organization adopt your audiences’ perspectives? What have you found works best when crafting messages that target a particular audience?