Donor’s need to feel like their donation will do some good because we all crave a sense of competence.  The question is, what’s the best way to signal and communicate this?  Here are three:

• Outputs: Immediate, tangible results examples of what the charity directly provides – meals delivered, blankets distributed, or books supplied.
• Outcomes: These are the short-term benefits or changes that result from the outputs. It’s the difference those meals make – e.g. improved nutrition
• Impact: The long-term, broader effect of the charity’s work. It’s the ultimate goal, reflecting lasting changes in people’s lives – e.g. children’s improved nutrition leads to better school performance.

Prior research has two conflicting findings,

1. Donors assign little to no value on Outputs
2. Donors do but Outcomes > Outputs and Outcomes = Impact.   The rub is that Outputs are easier to come by for charities.

But what if we can remedy pt. 1 and put Outputs (easier for charity staff to source) on part with Outcomes by thinking of Outputs as either Goods or Services and messaging each one differently?

Goods are very tangible.  You can see a food box, blanket or water well, you can touch it.  Tangible makes it feel psychologically close, priming a concrete “how my dollar is used” mindset that’s focused on the near term.  This subconsciously makes me think about the charity’s Ability to deliver the goods and increase confidence my donation is not wasted.

Services are more abstract, often conveying an interaction between charity and beneficiary or perhaps the outcome.  This feels psychologically further away and primes a mindset more focused on the long-term.  This subconsciously makes me think about the charity’s Effort to stay the course, delivering these longer horizon benefits and thereby increase my confidence the donation isn’t wasted.

Here’s an illustration:

• Goods-Oriented: Your donation provides 5 meals to families.  Since we’re able to source and deliver groceries efficiently, every dollar goes further fighting hunger.
• Services-Oriented: Our nutrition education empowers families to make healthier choices. Our team works tirelessly delivering these programs for lasting impact on our community’s well-being.

To recap, Outputs are either Goods or Services and they conjure up very different mindsets, requiring different messaging to signal confidence in the charity.

• Goods = Tangible and near term, message concretely on Ability
• Services = Abstract and long-term, message abstractly on Effort

Here’s the 2×2 experiment that correctly and incorrectly matched Output Type and Message.

Showing donors their donation will be put to good use matters.  But what’s often considered the lowest common denominator version, Outputs, can do the job if we get a tad more nuanced in distinguishing between Goods and Services output and message accordingly to match the moment.

Kevin