From Risk Comes Reward
Giving advice all nonprofit marketers should heed, marketing maven Seth Godin urges us to take a risk.
He's talking about commercial marketing and notes that creating buzz about a product or service is directly proportional to the degree of risk taken. Sure there will be failures, but just doing the “same old, same old” is definitely NOT the way to break through or to inspire word of mouth evangelism for what you are offering.
Not only does this apply to successful marketing of a product or cause, it applies to marketing yourself. And most of us have at least some healthy ambition.
You can go to work saying: “Today I want to be recognized for successfully copying something for my nonprofit that has already been proven to work in dozens of like organizations.”
Or, you can say: “Today I'm going to make an innovation, or try something out of the box, that's going to set my nonprofit (and me) apart from the rest.”
Which attitude — copier or innovator — will put your organization, and you, on the steepest reward curve?
Take a big risk, successfully, and you'll deserve a raise!
Roger & Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
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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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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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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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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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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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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