More On Trust
In a lot of things I’m reading lately, the "trust" issue keeps popping up.
Here’s a piece on trust and brands.
Your nonprofit is a brand. If you’re fortunate, it’s a brand your target audience has heard of. The Agitator’s DonorTrends survey recently asked donors for their perceptions of 100+ national nonprofit brands. The results underscore how invisible most nonprofit brands are.
But while awareness is great, and hard to come by, it of course is just a foot in the door. A chance to attach a bit of meaning and affect. In fact, one could argue that awareness doesn’t really exist without some attached value connotation … however well- or ill-founded. And that brand meaning can be negative or positive.
What any brand must strive toward is earning the trust of its audience. Nothing is more precious. And nothing can be more fatal than losing that trust, once gained. Just consider the travails of the ACLU over the past few years.
How is your nonprofit going about earning trust? And what clumsy mistake might you make to lose it?
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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