In Living Color
This is part of an interview series we’re doing with Mike Duerksen and the fine folks at BuildGood, a Canadian fundraising agency with way above average thinking and creative ideas.
Breaking through and creating connection is tough. It’s made unnecessarily harder if we force feed a one-size fits all diet to folks. The alternatives are real, scalable and worth testing. The path to success will still be squiggly and messy but our sector alternative is status quo, which seems untenable.
Feedback on content always appreciated as if the format in this case. Yeah or nay on video?
Thanks,
Kevin
8 responses to “In Living Color”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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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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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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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Unless there is something that only video can communicate, nay for me to video. It wastes my time and makes me anxious as I just want the presenter to get to the point quickly. There wasn’t anything in this video that he needed video to convey.
Not seeing my comment so I’m reposting. Sorry if this is redundant.
Unless there is something that only videos can provide, I always prefer text over video. I can read the text so much faster. This video, could have been text.
Hi Gayle, I get that preference, I often share it. I rarely listen to podcasts nor choose video on news sites, for instance.
I’m kinda with Gayle … text is faster than video … though sometimes video adds an herb or a spice. I listened to this podcast while plodding through my 2023 taxes. [Cue despair, math stress, loss records, personal apocalypse.]
This video had me with “There are two kinds of social-sciency concepts that we talk about a lot….” That’s me, too! I’m not a social scientist. I’m “social-sciency.” Closed captioning is built into the video. AND BuildGood’s anonymous but authoritative key expert speaks slowly, making transcription even easier. Learned a couple of things worth repeating. Thank you!
Hi Tom, taxes ugghh. the closed captioning is a big plus and credit goes entirely to the BuildGood team for that and the much harder job, editing my stream of consciousness.
great video! 100% agree. love the concept of latent connection to mission, that is personal, much more psyco and lifestyles than brand oriented, and very little or not at all influenced by demographics and transactional! Is the transcription available? I would like share it here in Latin America, translating into Spanish
Thanks Enrico, I’ll inquire about the transcription version and/or an AI version that translates to Spanish.
Yes I much prefer video. It’s much quicker and I take things I can see in much better than things I hear