Adopt A Nerd
I was intrigued by this email fundraising appeal from Environmental Defense Fund (one of my alma maters), because it offered me some choice as a donor.
However, I don’t think EDF pushed the choice concept as far as they could (see MyProjects for a look at what real donor choice looks like). The choice offered is amongst broad program areas, as opposed to concrete projects or initiatives. And, when one clicks to the Donate page, there’s no elaboration on how the donation might be spent to further my particular interest. Indeed the page is rather bland and generic.
The net effect then is a pretty soft appeal, lacking in specifics and urgency, compared to most of the hard-hitting stuff I receive from EDF.
Sam Parry, EDF’s experienced online fundraising maestro, confirms that this appeal didn’t perform as well as EDF’s usual more pointed appeals. Lesson learned.
I hope this won’t dissuade EDF from some additional experimentation with donor choice. It’s the way of the future. When you have a specific hard ask, go for it … particularly if you’re targeting donors who have given to that particular focus in the past. If you don’t have that hard ask, offer choice … or don’t ask at all!
Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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