Using Psychology To Fundraise
Back in January I noted an article by Claire Axelrad — 9 Valuable Shortcuts to Influence Nonprofit Donors — in which she described how to use some proven precepts of persuasion psychology to improve your fundraising prowess.
Here’s another go at the same theme … this time 15 ways psychology can boost commerce sales from ClickZ provides the tips … with illustrations of each approach at work. So, what makes a consumer buy?
- Sense of urgency — no explanation required.
- Reciprocation — you take the first step (e.g., a premium), engendering a ‘duty’ to respond.
- Scarcity — a tough one for nonprofits to use.
- Social proof — who wants to make a ‘wrong’ decision or commitment … or be the ‘only one’?
- Influence — related to social proof … who do you trust on the matter at hand?
- Storytelling — so much potential to engage and trigger emotional connection.
- Commitment/loyalty — start with easy first step.
- Use of imagery — forget the words, images bypass rational resistance — from ‘That’s me!’ to ‘Wow!’
- Pricing — it’s seldom the lowest price (or suggested donation amount) that wins … there’s a reason.
- Make customers feel special — start by showing you know them … if you know them.
- Less is more — this article is talking about simplicity of design and user experience, as a trust-builder.
- Providing key information — confusion kills.
- Easy purchasing process — always important, but now more so than ever as mobile makes it mandatory to avoid consumer impatience.
- Provide incentives to buy more — and to share the positive experience you’ve just provided your donor.
Obviously the messages you communicate and the donor experience you provide can’t tick all these boxes all the time.
But not a bad aspiration. My ‘Top 5″?
Urgency. Storytelling. Imagery. Social Proof. Easy Purchase.
Tom
P.S. And no fibbing — don’t promise 15 of anything, but only provide 14!
One response to “Using Psychology To Fundraise”
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So glad to see you talking some more about how fundraisers can use proven tools to persuade donors to do something they already want to do. We’ve got to stop thinking of psychology as manipulative. It’s just human nature. Using principles of persuasion is actually the quintessence of being donor centric. It’s very, very human. Thanks guys!