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Behavioral Science Posts

Behavioral Science Tips for #GivingTuesday and Year-End

The other day a Tweet from Aimee Vance (@NPOfriend) caught my eye with the question: End of Year Goal Thermometer on the donation page. Yea? Nay? What say ye? The string of replies were all over the lot: “Depends”….”Hard NAY—unless the volunteers/board helping meet the goal have it as part of their culture already. We […]

Learn More November 15, 2019

Conference Slides We Never Need See Again

A colleague had been on a webinar and had to vent: “The webinar was about email marketing tactics and, at the end, they had a bullet point that said: Don’t forget about digital. On an email marketing webinar.” she said. Turns out, that’s not uncommon. There are the bullet points, slides, or even full presentation […]

Learn More November 13, 2019

Audience Building Outside of Google and Facebook

So far this week we’ve painted a darkening picture on how to build your audience with the Goofle and Facebook behemoths.. How about some good news and some good places to build your audience? A few thoughts: Twitter. Last year, Facebook eliminated a decent amount of third-party data from ad targeting (likely because they had […]

Learn More November 8, 2019

Audience Building and Facebook

There are a few big reasons, as with Google, why the initial gold rush window with Facebook is closing. Replaced organic reach. We know that organic reach on Facebook is nearly non-existent – instead it’s pay-to-play. We noted this in our constituent acquisition white paper and the big brands are acting on it. There are […]

Learn More November 6, 2019

Audience Building and Google

The list and data world are changing fast. What worked for you last year may not work this year. If you relied heavily on Google or Facebook to find new donors you may be in for a shock. The purpose of this week’s posts is to better prepare you for 2020. Here are the main […]

Learn More November 4, 2019

Starbucks-With-A-Clipboard

The line at Starbucks stretched though the store and out onto the sidewalk. Impatient and agitated Customers grumbled loudly. I patiently waited my turn in line, determined to see the cause of this holdup. Finally, I placed my order and handed the cashier my credit card. She shook her head and instead handed me a […]

Learn More November 1, 2019

The Insanity and Stupidity of Ignoring and Offending Women

Women are both a powerful and growing force for growth in giving. So, why in the world do so many organizations stick to “best practices” of 40 years ago when a greater proportion of donors were men? Maybe because too many nonprofits are led by out-of-touch men… maybe because changing old habits and processes takes […]

Learn More October 30, 2019

Gender, Race and Fundraising Myths

Fundraising Land is filled with myths. Like… …” immigrants don’t give” …” race matters when it comes to giving” … and on and on. I’m sure you’ve heard a dozen more. Unfortunately, without data it’s difficult to separate myth from fact. Fortunately, we now have an important study—the first to explore the intersection of race, […]

Learn More October 28, 2019

My Hero

Courtesy of Imgur.com/Democats.com Roger

Learn More October 25, 2019

Evolving Our Nonprofit Language

When something new comes along, it goes through fuzzy stages of naming: We don’t know what to call it. Early names for our wired digital experience were “information superhighway” (peaked in 1996, according to Google nGram) and “cyberspace” (peaked in 2000). Early references to the car/automobile included autokenetic, autometon, buggyaut, motorig, and truckle. We define […]

Learn More October 23, 2019

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

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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Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]

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Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]

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Q: Is there any evidence that changes to the tax laws in the USA changed end of year giving behaviors? Previously, ~30% of US taxpayers filed itemized tax returns allowing them to receive a deduction for charitable giving. Tax law changed in 2017 so that now only ~10% itemize. This should mean tax year-end giving should not matter to millions of people for whom it used to matter. Is there any data evidence to support this?

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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Behavioral Science Posts

Behavioral Science Tips for #GivingTuesday and Year-End

Conference Slides We Never Need See Again

Audience Building Outside of Google and Facebook

Audience Building and Facebook

Audience Building and Google

Starbucks-With-A-Clipboard

The Insanity and Stupidity of Ignoring and Offending Women

Gender, Race and Fundraising Myths

My Hero

Evolving Our Nonprofit Language

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

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?

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?

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?

Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

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