For generations direct response fundraisers have been steering the fundraising car with little more than two controls: the gas pedal and the brake pedal.

Want more monthly donors? Invest more money. More prospecting.  More F2F.  More DRTV.  More campaigns to reactivate lapsed sustainers. More. More.

Want more net income to “meet the numbers”?  Cut back on volume.  Slow or stop that “expensive” acquisition program until net income catches up. Less. Less.

Seldom, given this herky-jerky approach, is any attention paid to long-term essentials: who are these donors and whydo they give, nor any of the other attitudinal factors that would the organization to build a truly great monthly giving program. ( I’ve singled out monthly giving only because it’s fresh on my mind from last week’s post. My concern applies to all fundraising programs)

When it comes to building great and growing direct response programs the opposite of “more” is not “less.”  It’s “better.”

And getting to “better” involves gaining insight into –and practicing—some fundamental or central concepts that undergird effective fundraising.

This week we’re drilling down on a central concept – Donor Identity—with real-life examples of how you can put it to work for your organization.

As you’ll see from Nick’s detailed posts beginning tomorrow organizations of all types and sizes dramatically increase the commitment/loyalty and lifetime value of their donors when they segment their fundraising acquisition, appeals and donor communications according to donor identity and utilize messages that go directly to those identities.

Some Helpful Background Reading

As a quick backgrounder you might want to read or re-read these Agitator posts on donor identity:

How Donors Choose Among Nonprofits: The Role of Identity.  Donors don’t give to the most urgent needs. They give to causes that mean something to them. Factors that commonly influence donors are identified in this post.

Stop Telling Your Donors Who They Are– Organizations of all types and sizes can dramatically increase donor loyalty and lifetime value of their donors by getting serious about donor identity

What to Listen for in Donor Onboarding– How and what to listen for donor identities that can increase retention and revenues.

Testing Your Donor Identities– Outlines how to inexpensively determine the meaningful differences between identities

RFM Segmentation: First Refuge of the Scoundrel– Why segmenting by donor identity focuses on the primary question: “what donors will want to get this communication?” Explains how RFM fits in, but why it’s not all that important.

Real Tests, Real Results

The posts for the remainder of this week reflect the use of behavioral science as applied by the fundraising team at DonorVoice. Many of these tests and pilot projects were prepared by the team and guided by DonorVoice’s behavioral science strategist Dr. Kiki Koutmeridou

Nick, whose day job is as DonorVoice’s Vice President for Strategy, has translated these test results into “fundeaisingese” for our benefit.

Behavioral Science and Fundraising

Many fundraisers operate a bit like medieval physicians – – working on anecdotal experience, impressions and mistake-based explanations. This is somewhat akin to those medieval bloodletters who shunned medical/scientific experimentation because they were quite content with their untapped untested assumptions.

You can see examples of this at work every in the magical thinking of many consultants, and in conference after conference. Almost always the pathway “improvement”, “higher growth” is often offered in the form of solutions involving higher volume, higher investment.

Part of the reason behavioral science findings are sometimes ignored is that fundraisers often ask donors directly about their motivations. It seems logical enough approach. However, it’s based on the premise that what donors say, and they do are aligned.

Unfortunately, as most researchers and many disappointed fundraisers know this is not the case.   As the New York University psychologist Jonathan Haidt says the conscious brain thinks it is in the Oval Office but is actually in the press office.

But fortunately, as you’ll see in Nick’s posts there are fundraisers who are applying behavioral science.  Sadly, this is the vast minority of our trade. At the end of the day what this means is there’s an opportunity for anyone who wants to take this up to gain an advantage by harnessing behavioral science before their competitors do.

Coming Attraction

While I’m on the subject of behavioral science I wanted to let you know that we’re within striking distance of launching the new Agitator website.  It includes a special section: Ask a Behavioral Scientist.

Kiki has enlisted a group of distinguished behavioral scientist who will field your questions and provide practical insights into how behavioral science is being is currently being applied or can be applied to fundraising.

Have a good week.

Roger