The Magic Moment In Fundraising
We often write about the importance of storytelling as the path into donors’ heads and hearts.
Here, courtesy of fundraiser Fraser Green, is one more exclamation mark on the point!
Says Fraser:
“The ‘magic moment,‘ as I call it, is when the audience stops being an audience – and becomes a part of the story. Total involvement. Total engagement. Every writer worth his or her salt strives for this kind of mastery of art and craft …
Your cause, your organization and your donors have a myriad of untold stories. And within each one of them is a magic moment. Find that moment. Express it in all its human drama. See what happens.”
Amen.
Tom
One response to “The Magic Moment In Fundraising”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Whether “help” is more engaging or not really depends on the framing and context. The word help can sometimes weaken the perceived agency of the supporter, making their role feel secondary rather than central (your point). On the other hand, help can also signal collaboration rather than implying full ownership of the outcome, which might […]
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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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Tom, I am so passionately in agreement with Green’s sentiment that the “magic moment” in fundraising is when the audience stops being an audience. But what Green goes on to describe is something short of total involvement and total engagement:
What he describes is great copy writing, no doubt. But even an enraptured audience…
…is still an audience.
In real fundraising magic, the donor becomes part of the story. Literally.
Think of Habitat For Humanity. The engagement doesn’t come from the donor being able to smell the sawdust as they read the mesmerizingly moving appeal for funds. It comes from Habitat stuffing a hammer into your chest and challenging you to build a home, because we each have a personal say in making sure no one goes homeless in our sphere of influence.
That’s why Habitat is one of the fastest growing and most recession-proof charities of our time.
When the donor is transformed into the actor and the nonprofit is transformed into the platform for action–when, in other words, the donor smells like sawdust and doesn’t just smell sawdust in his mind’s nose, so to speak–that’s when fundraising magic has happened.