Citing the Hilborn blog, creative whiz Jeff Brooks applauded their simple formula for fundraising success: Think like a fundraiser, feel like a donor.

The point of both Hilborn and Brooks is that (and this applies especially if your fundraising role involves both method and message — marrying communication tactics to human motivation) you need to be able to combine knowledge about channels and technique with an ability to tap into and appreciate the psyche of the donors you are attempting to woo.

The first of these is arguably the easy part. There are many ways to learn technique — pay attention to the mentors in the biz, read the relevant blogs and books, soak up the experience of others via webcasts and professional forums, use seasoned consultants, learn from the examples of highly performing ‘competitors’ in your sector, and of course do your own testing and refining.

The second part is harder. Some people have a ‘feel’ — a keen instinct — for how others are motivated. They’re inherently empathetic. And they are ‘second nature’ about translating this ‘feel’ into powerful messages delivered just the right way. But many have less of this instinct and empathy and ability to translate into practice.

But still, there are steps you can take to develop your ability to ‘feel like a donor’.

First and foremost, listen to them talk about your organization and what it means for them, what it does for them. Don’t think you know; actually listen — to donor-initiated contacts, social media chatter, face-to-face interaction, surveys. Listen until you sound like a donor!

Second, improve your theoretical understanding of how people think and decide to act. As Willis Turner noted in his pre-holiday Fundraising Success article — Knowledge vs Inertia: Are Fundraisers Ready for the New Era of Insight? — there’s a massive and rapidly growing body of knowledge about human motivation and response. “Knowledge that just might be game-changing for those marketers and fundraisers willing to explore and test it,” he says.

Amen! Some of this insight is readily accessible — e.g., Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, or Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational. Some is heavy-duty (but understandable) science — e.g., the books of Antonio Damasio. I’ve just waded through Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, another NY Times bestseller. All of these underscore the huge and lasting power of our human species hard wiring … always ‘on the job’ and ready to rule our behavior!

Implications for fundraising? You bet your bottom fundraising dollar!

So, after you’ve studied your data (hopefully the KPIs Roger suggested yesterday), made your projections, mapped out your messaging schedule etc., what are you going to do about yourself, and the level of skill and insight you’ll bring to the table in 2014? Are you planning to make a difference?

Tom