Why most fundraising doesn't work

If you're in fundraising, you're getting a lot of mail and email from nonprofits. (If you aren't, you just aren't a fundraiser worth your salt: You need to know what it feels like to give, including the barrage of mail that results.)

Look any random message you got today: Chances are, it's poorly executed and ineffective.

The nonprofit sector isn't alone with this problem. Roy H. Williams recently looked at the issue in the commercial advertising world in his Monday Morning Memo: Why Most Ads Don't Work (If you don't subscribe to this email newsletter yet, do it now!). The causes of bad ads are nearly the same as the causes of bad fundraising. Here are Williams' reasons for ineffective ads, followed by my take on how they present in fundraising:

Demanding "Polished and Professional" Ads. We so, so desperately want to be taken seriously! Sadly, "polished and professional" basically means "cold and inhuman." That's not how you motivate people to give. Good fundraising is blubbery, emotional, genuinely human, and not impressed with itself.

Informing without Persuading. This is the major killer of fundraising. We operate under the delusion that if people only knew the facts they'd be on board with us, along with the related delusion that an appeal to the emotions is somehow less valid or moral than an appeal to logic. Pull your head out of this particular sand, and you'll raise a lot more money.

Entertaining without Persuading. This is advertising's hamartia, but fortunately, it seldom afflicts fundraising.

Decorating without Persuading. Slick-looking fonts (almost always sans-serif, i.e., hard to read) and tasteful color palettes (more often than not, cool, stand-offish colors), combined with Stupid Design Tricks like reverse type (basically unreadable), type over photos or dark colors (ditto), design elements that confound eye-flow (but look nice) ... seen it before? If it's in your fundraising, it's hurting you.

Control these things, and you're most of the way to effective fundraising.

Technorati Tag: advertising

Comments

[Maya Norton]

Hi Jeff,

I wanted to thank you for your posts "Why Most Fundraising Doesn't Work" and "Emotional Fundraising."

I found them especially interesting and informative, and have cited you on my entry "Philanthropy's Emotional Connection: 3 Ways to Harness the Power of Donor Emotions."

Keep up the good work.

Maya
The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy

[Nancy E. Schwartz]

I couldn't agree more, Jeff. Somehow professional frequently comes out slick. Humanity is accessible; sometimes even mistakes can make a marketing campaign more accessible, spurring an empathetic response. Not that I'm suggesting nonprofits include misspellings in marketing materials...

On the persuading side, it all comes down to ensuring audiences get why they should support your nonprofit, rather than another in the same issue arena. Emphasize the unique difference your org makes in its work; talk about impact/results, not the process.

[Robert Rosenthal]

I get fundraising offers constantly, and the vast majority lack the "Holy cow!" quality that separates great stuff from everything else. A lot of direct marketers in the not-for-profit realm need to do more innovating and less emulating.