Earlier I referenced this post from PsyBlog about crafting persuasive messages. Number 17 and especially 20 in that post reminded me of something from Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog.
Katya's blog post asks, "are you a marketer or a missionary?" She explains that it is much easier to be a marketer, who identifies a person's values and then ties her cause to those values, than to be a missionary, who identifies a person's values and then tries to change them.
#20 on PsyBlog's post states, "Avoid targeting strong beliefs: strong attitudes and beliefs are very difficult to change. Do not directly approach long-standing ideas to which people are committed, they will resist and reject."
And #17 reminds us "Go with the flow: persuasion is strongest when the message and audience are heading in the same direction."
As a nonprofit marketer, the good news is, unless what you are working on is an acquisition/prospecting campaign to get new donors, you have the perfect market in your hand—people who have already supported your organization. Their support is evidence that their values are at least in part aligned with those of your cause.
So don't waste time trying to change their values. Speak to them about the values you know they and your organization share, and the difference that they can—and want to!—make through donating to you.
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