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Communications

Not Bowled Over

Editor’s Note:  Two posts in a week referencing bowling?  The cosmos at work. I love taking my two young kids bowling. It’s one of the few sports where I’m guaranteed the ego boost of coming in at least third place. The only downside is the almost daily deluge of spam from the bowling alley. So, […]

Learn More June 20, 2022

You Are Your Music

You are your music.  More accurately, your music is you.  This is cool research from Spotify finding that your personality predicts your music choices.   Personality comes first, it’s mostly (not entirely) a born-with kind of thing. We all behave in ways that are trying to match our goals and values and orientation on the world. I […]

Learn More June 10, 2022

Why You Need Personalized Matching

Do you select, segment or do personalized matching?  A definition is probably in order to answer that accurately.    A big part of the distinction is whether you treat people differently or not. Selection is who is in/out for a communication.  This is almost always tied to behavior data – e.g., RFM, hasn’t opened an […]

Learn More June 6, 2022

Think Locally, Act Locally

How do people think about and organize their giving?  Do people have a favorite charity or two for each sub-sector that matters to them?  The pie-chart of giving method? What about the stacked bar chart method where folks are single-issue oriented and give to 5-7 conservation charities, for example? I expect most readers would bet […]

Learn More May 27, 2022

Fundraisers Are Not In The Persuasion Business

Our business is fundraising.  We try to get folks to engage in helping behavior, giving and doing.  We are not in the persuasion business. If we were,  we’d be out of business.  As Jack Trout, famous ad man said, “if the job is to persuade people, don’t accept the job.” Our job is to meet […]

Learn More May 2, 2022

Personality Pseudoscience

No, not the Big Five model of personality traits that we use as a central part of our fundraising to divide folks on their innate traits and match message to audience. Unfortunately, the Big Five isn’t the most popular, well-known Personality test.  It probably needs a new PR agent. Ever heard of Myers-Briggs?  Almost certainly.  (See […]

Learn More April 11, 2022

Do Neighbors Always Get the Same Direct Mail?

Bob and Bill are neighbors in Anytown, USA.  They’re the same age, race, income and both are married with 2 kids and a dog. They both give to the same NationalCharity.org and the same localfoodbank/mission/animalshelter.org and with an identical RFM profile. Do they get the same direct mail piece?  100% of the time.  Why?  Are […]

Learn More April 6, 2022

Back to Normal

Covid changed everything.  For a little while. The prognosticators claiming otherwise were seemingly trying to outdo one another with their hyperbolic goobly gook.   Here is one such hot-take, “that one can talk about a global synchronisation of human behaviour establishing a completely new, universal change of consumer patterns.”   Uh, yeah, whatever. A nod to Mark […]

Learn More March 25, 2022

Personas?  Buyer Beware.

This post is sourced from an article I wrote for the Direct Marketing Association of Washington’s bi-monthly magazine, Marketing AdVents.  I encourage checking out the DMAW membership offer.  They produce a lot of good content with conferences, webinars and this publication. The only reason to group donors is because you believe you’ll be more financially […]

Learn More March 23, 2022

Don’t Ask if You Don’t Care About the Answers

Zero party data is the data that voluntarily comes from your donors.  It’s their voice.  You might say we built a company around the value of it. This data is proprietary, you don’t sell or trade it in the co-op mills taking in others’ mailing list laundry.  You keep it to yourself and you use […]

Learn More March 16, 2022

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Ask A Behavioral Scientist

    Behavioral Science Q & A

    Q: As a designer who works with non-profits on fundraising strategy, I see the language like the following: “Our supporters help empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs.” I do not think the word “help” is useful–I think “Our supporters empower every girl, ensuring she has the resources she needs. ” is much more engaging. Thoughts?

    Whether “help” is more engaging or not really depends on the framing and context. The word help can sometimes weaken the perceived agency of the supporter, making their role feel secondary rather than central (your point). On the other hand, help can also signal collaboration rather than implying full ownership of the outcome, which might […]

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    Q: We started offering a donor cover option last april 1. The data to date suggests this may be dampening giving.eg. those who say yes to donor cover have a lower average gift (based on analysis of 6000+ gifts). I’m wondering if those who give lower gifts feel more guilt and therefore say yes to donor cover or if the presence of donor cover is making people adjust (lower) their gift size to accommodate the extra 3%. Would love any insights you have.

    Great question! Here’s how behavioral science can help unpack what might be happening: Pain of Paying: Even a small extra charge can make giving feel more transactional than emotional, potentially reducing generosity. Fairness Concerns: Some donors might perceive donor cover as a surcharge rather than a contribution to the cause. If they feel the charity […]

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    Q: When writing an appeal, I waffle back and forth between writing “Your gift CAN…” or “Your gift WILL…” Any studies of which of these two words is best for an appeal?

    The choice between “Your gift CAN…” and “Your gift WILL…” taps into the psychological framing of certainty vs. possibility. Currently, there is no academic research directly comparing these two framings in charitable appeals. However, I suspect no framing is universally better—the outcome likely depends on your target audience and the campaign’s goal. Here are some thoughts: Certainty Framing – […]

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    Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

    Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]

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    Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

    I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]

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    Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

    Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]

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