Knock down the barriers between apathy and action

This TED talk is a must-watch for any nonprofit marketers, and others in the nonprofit world will also benefit from viewing it.  It's just seven minutes long.

The part where Dave Meslin shows what it would look like if Nike designed an ad like the government designs their public notice ads is so funny and true!



This video reiterates the importance of making it easy for people.  Always keep this in mind: help your supporters help you!

Please feel free to leave a comment telling me what you think of the video.

Persuasive messaging, personal beliefs

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.

Donating money makes people happy!

Good news for fundraisers, the data are in and they show that spending money on others makes one happier than spending money on oneself!

Why?

"It's partly because giving to others makes us feel good about ourselves. It helps promote a view of ourselves as responsible and giving people, which in turn makes us feel happy."

So when crafting your next appeal, think about how you can cultivate those feelings in your donors. Can you remind them of what a strong supporter they've been to your organization, so they can think of themselves as a caring, generous person, feel good about it, and want to continue that feeling? How about showing them the difference their support makes, so they feel responsible for something important?

But: don't talk too much about money.  There is a reason we fundraisers use words like "support," and I think it's because we intuitively know what another study proved (mentioned in same link as above), that

"the simplest reminder of money has all kinds of negative effects...It makes us...less likely to help others, less likely to donate to charity..."

That reminds me of another study that showed that people spent more at a restaurant if the menu didn't have dollar signs.  Can you use this information, say, when designing your reply envelopes?

What the Occupy movement has taught me about fundraising

I have gotten very involved with Occupy Chicago—writing press releases, serving as one of the spokespeople, and just plain holding signs on a street corner.  Whatever you think of the movement itself, I think almost all of us can agree that the economy is awful, too many people are struggling, and that there is too much corporate influence on government.  Those are all reasons why I personally Occupy.

Occupy Wall Street, the arguable epicenter of the Occupy movement, has raised over half a million dollars, and Occupy Chicago has raised nearly $14,000.  I don't think that Occupy Wall Street has done very much work fundraising, and I know that Occupy Chicago hasn't done much more than put up a link.  Yet they've raised money.  What lessons and tips can we take from their successes? 

• People have to identify with your cause.

Talk about "what's in it for me?"—people who believe in the movement are hoping it will manifest in better lives for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.  So it's not (always) just about helping others, but even helping themselves.  (P.S. When I say they have to identify, you can always use your messaging to try to make them identify as much as possible!)

• When people wish they could do more, they give.

Many people who have donated have said things like, "I can't be out there on the street, but thank you for doing it."  Giving money is a way of feeling connected and participatory when action isn't possible.  For example, an environmental organization could say, "We can't all travel to clean up oil spills.  But through your donations, you are there..."

• People respect those who make sacrifices.

This movement features people occupying parks and street corners 24/7.  In Chicago we can't camp, so people often get very little sleep as they occupy in shifts.  And the protesters stay through all kinds of weather, which in Chicago especially is serious.  There is a reason that people donate to friends participating in fundraising runs and the like.  They think, "If she can run 15k, I can donate $25." Is there a way you can show any sacrifices your organization has made?