There comes a point when the inbox on my laptop and the messages app on my iPhone simply can’t take it anymore.

I hit that point somewhere around the fifth email and 3^rd SMS this morning.  They screamed:

• “MIDNIGHT DEADLINE!”
• “Your $3 gift will be 7X MATCHED!”
• “If you don’t act now, democracy will surely collapse and feral billionaires will eat the Constitution.”

Dear Digiterati,  Can you please stop embarrassing yourselves? Your 700%-Matched-if-given-by-FEC-Filing Deadline- panic Email is making democracy worse, not better.

Digital fundraising, at least in Democratic party  and candidate circles, has officially entered the “Boy Who Cried FEC Deadline” era. It’s turned what should be powerful tools for connection and persuasion into a carnival of synthetic urgency and meaningless gimmicks.

And it’s not just the volume (though I do wonder how many unopened “FINAL FINAL FINAL NOTICE” emails one supporter can endure before defecting to the nearest saloon). It’s the sloppiness and the utter lack of respect for the audience. Not just where the messages are concerned, but all across the digital landscape.  Lists are swapped like napkins at a Vegas buffet. New prospects, who never heard of the candidate are addressed like long-lost family. All in the name of one more panicked click.

Enter Frank O’Brien, Voice of Reason

In his excellent  Substack 2026 Path toPersuasion in a post titled Call for More Authentic Digital Fundraising, Frank lays it out plain: “We need to persuade people to donate because of how we engage them, not despite how badly we treat them.”

Amen.

Frank offers three big shifts—each of which should be tattooed on the forehead of every digital director this cycle:

• STOP static, repetitive appeals — START emotional journeys

Campaigns are rich with drama. So why are we stuck sending the same canned “MATCH ENDS AT MIDNIGHT” template 63 times a month? Take people on a ride. Make it personal. Make it matter.

• STOP using gimmicks as a substitute — START using them to support a story

Deadlines and matches are fine when they mean something. They’re death when they’re just filler for an empty email.

• STOP bludgeoning daily — START letting content drive frequency

People will tolerate, even enjoy, frequent emails if they feel timely and authentic. They will absolutely nuke you if you send generic pap on autopilot.

And Kevin Reminds Us 

Meanwhile, fellow editor Kevin Schulman nails another key point in his Agitator post Fundraising’s 3-Minute Track Problem:

Campaigns (and too many nonprofits) have been hypnotized by the pseudo-wisdom of “young people can’t pay attention”—thanks, Instagram and TikTok!

This is nonsense.

Kevin’s data shows that audience preferences are shaped by experience and identity—not by some magic generational ADHD. Boomers like 3-minute tracks because that’s what radio gave them. Millennials and Gen Xers love longer, richer content because they grew up on it.

Yet here we are, designing digital fundraising like it’s a TikTok dance: short, shallow, stripped of narrative or nuance.

As Kevin says:  “We didn’t shrink because people stopped caring. We shrunk because we built a system that rewards shallow engagement over long-term connection.”

Translation: folks will happily read something longer than the label on a Vitaminwater bottle or watch something deeper than a 15-second insurance ad—if it’s relevant and compelling.

But instead of offering that, we’re trapped in a “3-minute track” mindset: one-size-fits-all, optimized for clicks, devoid of meaning.

It’s Time to Get Serious

Here’s the bottom line:

• FEC panic and other phony, hyperbolic deadlines don’t build loyalty.
• 700% matches don’t build trust.
• Unethical, promiscuous list-swapping and list-selling erodes trust, community and credibility. And in many cases is illegal.
• Transactional tactics cannibalize long-term support.

It’s no longer about “does it raise some money?” The better question is:
Does it leave us stronger, or weaker?  Does it make people want to engage again, or run screaming from the inbox?

If the over-zealous political digiterati keep torching trust for one more quick click, they’re going to lose the very base other nonprofits  need most—especially going into 2026 and 2028.

Frank has given us a better way. Kevin has shown us why the “short is better” myth is nonsense. And the evidence is piling up in inboxes everywhere.

So: Stop Yelling. Start Persuading.

Treat your prospects and supporters like people. Tell a damn good story. Use your tools wisely. And for the love of democracy, stop sending emails that sound like a used car salesman with a caffeine problem.

We can do better. We must do better.

Roger

P.S. Don’t lose your virtual seat,  Register here and join us for a learning session where Dr. Stefano Di Domenico, Head of Personalized Matching at DonorVoice will show how to quickly, cheaply ($0.15/record) and effectively get beyond one size fits nobody messaging.