Bob and Bill are neighbors in Anytown, USA.  They’re the same age, race, income and married with 2 kids and a dog.

They both give to the same NationalCharity.org and the same localcharity.org and with an identical RFM profile.

Do they get the same direct mail piece?  100% of the time.  Why?

• Are demographics destiny?  No, neither the local nor national charity likely have this demographic detail on file and even if they do, they aren’t using it for selection.
• Is geography destiny?  That doesn’t really capture it either since these two get the same mailing from the NationalCharity.com as Sue and Jill who live 2500 miles away in a different Anytown USA.

It isn’t demos or geography.  It’s the one-size fits all world of fundraising.

In what world might Bob and Bill get a different mailing?  What would be the basis for this? It has nothing to do with your programs or issues.  Those things only matter secondarily.  Our first job is getting their attention by starting where they are, the innate parts of who each is.  This is how we increase our chance of breaking through the clutter and garnering attention.

A large direct marketing agency told me that ‘we’ don’t know what works, including ‘me’ in the we.  If you’re talking about Issue A, B, C or D then I agree, I don’t know.

And if the Issue/Program/Need is all one thinks about when developing a mailing then with random nth sampling in a test Bob gets Issue A mailing and Bill gets Issue B.   But, if B beats A then the next mailing that Bob gets will be, Issue B, even if he responded to and prefers Issue A.

The whole premise of this fundraising world view is that the Issue is what matters, not Bob or Bill.  In a metaverse near you Bill and Bob always get different mail even if both pieces are talking about Issue A.  How so?

It doesn’t require the Infinity stones, a Matrix like plug in your head of the flux capacitor.  It’s here, now.  NationalCharity.org and localcharity.org appended Personality Tags to their donor file.

They saw Bob and Bill in a new light, understanding that Bob is motivated to provide care and prevent harm while Bill is focused on the work and effort and progress of the charity and beneficiary.  This tailoring framing applies whether we’re talking about Issue A or B or Program C or D.

It’s the framing that will get the attention of each by matching copy, moral frame, emotions, format, story and images to each person.

Bob and Bill live next to each other.  They give to the same causes.  That’s what you can see and observe and easily measure.  None of it tells you why each does what he does.  That answer is very knowable and very different.  Fundraising is hard, getting people to give away their money and feel psychologically satisfied in so doing.  We make it much harder by ignoring the individual tapestries and throwing a musty blanket of sameness over it.

Kevin