You’re Fabulous. But It’s Not About You.

    It’s not easy to create donor-centric fundraising materials. After all, there are so many great things going on at your organization! Perhaps you’ve just finished a strategic plan, or you’ve received an award, or you’ve reached some major milestone. Even more importantly, you’ve made tremendous impact for your clients. You’ve saved lives, inspired minds. Who wouldn’t want to hear about all that?

    Here’s the thing. Donors give because of how they feel about themselves. In writing a check, each donor is painting a self-portrait. Donors say to themselves, often unconsciously, “I am the kind of person who gives to XYZ organization because I am strategic, or I have a big heart, or I am loyal,” and so on. By giving to a particular cause, they are manifesting their own values and their own perception of themselves.

    A recent test by Fundraising101 demonstrated that a donor-centric message beat out other messages in an email subject line:

    Subject test line #1: “From Haiti to Somalia, taking action together to save lives” (MISSION-focused):

    Open rate – 31.4%

    Clickthrough – 1.5%

    Subject test line #2: “Together, our swift response has made a difference in Haiti” (EMERGENCY-focused):

    Open rate – 35.1%

    Clickthrough – 1.9%

    Subject test line #3: “You’ve had a life-saving impact” (DONOR-focused):

    Open rate – 42.3%

    Clickthrough – 2.3%

    The fact that the donor-focused subject line yielded more positive results (well above the others in the test and way above industry standards) isn’t surprising when you regard the act of giving as an act of expression, not merely one of response.

    Next time you’re writing an appeal or stewardship report, put yourself in the mind of the donor. Who might they want to be?

    If you’d like to dig a little deeper into creating effective, donor-centric fundraising materials, join Front Range Source for our popular “Cooking Up a Case Statement” workshop on Wednesday, March 8. You’ll walk away from this hands-on session feeling more confident in your fundraising language.

    After all, some things are about you!


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