Communicating success - If you did it, brag about it!

Who doesn't like the story of the "Little Engine That Could?" The 1930 children's book has stayed a favorite for 75 years because it teaches children that trying hard and often gets you to the top.

It's doubtful that the book would have even survived a week if it ended on a note of failure.

Most people root for the underdog, but what really moves them is when the underdog becomes the top dog.

That's the story your nonprofit should be telling.

When you are trying to raise funds, whether you're a nonprofit or a for-profit, people want to know that they are backing a winner or at least a solid competitor.

Often the difference between getting funding and going broke is your ability to prove you have a lasting impact on whatever problem you are trying to solve.

Nonprofits have a particularly good audience for success stories, because even little successes, if they are cumulative, motivate people to help.

We hear a lot about impact statements, but too many people want to prove their impact with numbers only, leaving out the emotional side.

OK, it's a good thing to be able to say you served 1000 more meals this year than last, but what difference did those meals make in someone's life?

Every nonprofit should make an effort to go beyond the numbers. Follow up with the people you fed or tutored or that you helped to finally get a job. What positive outcomes did they have beyond a meal, their first paycheck  or a passing grade on a test?

Stopping with the immediate end result of a program sells your whole operation short.

Go out and contact some of the people you helped, or the homes where you placed an animal a year or more later. What happened after the initial good deed?

Sometimes the outcomes aren't as rosy as you hoped they would be, but that's part of the story.

One nonprofit that worked with rescuing female domestic abuse victims did just that. What they found was that about 30% of the abused women had gone back to school and another 35% had found steady employment, but most of the others had either gone back to their abusers or entered into another abusive relationship.

That's part of your story too. Use it to show why you still need support.

Put the stories on your website, start a blog or send out newsletters, but get the word out.  

Remember, people want to give you money only because you help someone or something else. They aren't going to donate just because you need to pay the rent. Now go out there and start bragging!

Need donors? Think like a salesman.

One of the hardest concepts for me to get across to new nonprofits that want me to get grants for them  is the concept of producing what you might call a sales pitch when approaching donors. Nine times out of ten, when I produce a grant narrative for them I get it back with the words "we need" added multiple times.

For-profit companies have no problem understanding that while their motive is to make money, they have to create a product or service with market potential and then design a sales pitch to sell it.

Nonprofits, particularly new nonprofits, don't readily make that connection between the mission and the sales pitch needed to fund it.

What makes you decide to spend money on something?  You either need it, want it or both.

If you both need it AND want it, you are far more likely to haul out the credit card or wallet and actually cough up the cash. The trick is in determining which motive is driving your potential donors, and then appealing to that motivation.

That's the somewhat over-simplified reasoning behind approaching donors for money. They have a need, specifically a need to help someone or something, and you have the product (program) that will fill that need.

   

Impulse buyers initially react on the spur of the moment.  They are the ones that hear or see something that strikes a chord and pick up the product (program) and head to the check-out line. For them you need an emotional component to your appeal to get their interest in the first place. I call them Heart, Head, Hand donors, because that's the way they give.

   

Your job at that point is to convert the impulse to a sale. If they recognize your nonprofit's name and associate it with a record of good works, your can be fairly assured they will actually write the check. If not, you need to have resources available to them that prove your legitimacy.

Investor-type donors on the other hand have their own goals, and they expect a return on their money.  In the nonprofit world, that means actually improving a condition that corresponds to the donors mission objectives. You already have a common interest, so you don't need to sell them on the mission. I call them Head to Hand donors, because their hearts are already engaged.

For them, you need to produce a package that shows that you understand their mission, that your program is compatible with that mission, and  most of all that you are in a position to produce results for that mission. It isn't enough to make general statements like "we want to help low-income children" or "give goats to every woman in Africa".

Notice that at no point have I said this is about your needs. That's not to say that you shouldn't have goals for any money you raise, but the appeal can't be about you.

People give to benefit the end users of the money. They already know that you will receive the money, but they aren't primarily interested in supporting your organization unless they are specifically interested in organizational development.

Here's the difference.

When you say "WE need money to help feed children", you break their line of sight to the end result. They want to visualize a happy well-fed child, not your new office furniture.

When you say "YOU can feed little Johnny lunch this month for just $30.00" you are making the donor responsible for little Johnny.

See the difference?

Need help with your appeal?  Drop me a line at rightwords@ida.net. 

Learn how happy donors make happy bank accounts

Recently Facebook was "outed" for playing mind games with its subscribers[1]. Actually, "outed" is a bit misleading.  They've been doing it for years, and it's all right there in the 9000 words of their service agreement. And guess what they proved?  Negative words create more negative words, while happy, positive words caused people to comment more positively. Not exactly newsworthy, but interesting.

Not very original either.  Every marketing person since time began knows that truism. It's called the psychology of selling. What made everyone a bit queasy is that they did more or less surreptitiously. Somehow, people missed the point that Facebook sells stuff, namely advertising.

Think about your favorite merchandise, say aftershave or lipstick. Do you buy it because the ads say "We know you think you are not really all that attractive, but our product will make you look better (or smell sexier)  than you are now!" Probably not.  That might be the real psychological reason you buy the product, but you'd rather keep that part to yourself. So, the ad reads "Add more excitement with our great new product – do you dare to be different?

It's the same thing with wooing donors to support your programs.

Of course you have to frame your message in a way that makes donors want to get on board, and you do that by being positive and upfront with them.

Tell donors exactly what their money will accomplish.  If $5.00 will really provide three meals for a family of four, be prepared to back that up.  Everyone frames things within their personal experience, and normally, three meals for a family of four costs more than $5.00 a day. Your donors don't know that you are giving donated food a value based on your cost to collect and distribute it, rather than going to the local big box food store and buying it.  Tell them.  Once they understand, they may feel more like a part of the team, not just another debit transaction.

It isn't enough to whine about your eroding bank balance. It isn't even enough to tell wonderfully sad stories about the people or things that need help.

Keep it positive and involve your donors on a personal level.  It may seem strange, but on some level, your donors want to know what you can do for them. Can you make them feel useful, powerful and needed?

Yes, you have to define the problem and that may involve some unpleasant facts, but you want donors to feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Make your actual appeal reflect that.

Try it. You may find out that it's a lot more fun than writing doom and gloom appeals and way more productive.

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[1] http://online.wsj.com/articles/furor-erupts-over-facebook-experiment-on-users-1404085840