Who’s Got The Toughest Job?
Yesterday I talked about the OgilvyOne supreme challenge of salesmanship — selling a plain red brick.
I’ve been thinking about what might be the equivalent challenge in the nonprofit arena today … is there a cause or charity that’s metaphorically the "red brick?"
Dare I ask you if any of you fundraisers or communicators wake up some mornings thinking: "Today I’m off to try and sell that brick"? No, I better not.
But what about this …
As you look around the nonprofit space, it must occur to you from time to time: "Boy, I’ll bet they have a helluva time making that case!"
Seriously, what charity or cause (or category of such) do you think has the toughest fundraising job today? Faces the biggest challenge. And of course, why?
Maybe we can all give them some help!
Tom
5 responses to “Who’s Got The Toughest Job?”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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AIDS in Africa.
Why? Speculate that too few care about Africa and too few care about AIDS. But then testing tells us what works, not why. Every group I’ve talked with that does work on AIDS in Africa tells me that they can’t effectively raise money on that issue. So they do a good job of raising undesignated gifts with other lead issues, so they can dedicate resources to this horrific problem.
The Arts. I work for an arts organization, and it’s very difficult to compete against food and shelter in a rough economy. Fortunately, we have very fortunate individual supporters in our community who believe in the arts, but corporate support has definitely shifted to basic needs. We find that a lot of funders love to support our youth and education programs, but they aren’t very keen on supporting the adult orchestra.
I may get burned from fellow readers, but I am glad to not be fundraising for the arts or higher ed at the moment. Most donors I have talked to have cut back to only supporting programs and groups that have dire need.
Community Organizing.
Reweave the social fabric. Improve democracy. Transform people’s lives. We do get more specific than that and tell stories about specific actions like improved reporting on asbestos removal practices for worker safety and the jobs that were created by providing for energy efficiency upgrades but it’s hard to get the media’s attention even though we are able to involve quite a few volunteers.
From Deborah Nemeth:
I am the Development Director for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. So you may ask – are they are dating service, a Quaker organization, just a bunch of nice people? Actually we are a land use planning organization. We promote good transit choices, smart growth planning and healthy communities. (www.1kfriends.org).
So first of all, we have a name that doesn’t really tell people what we do unless they dig around for it. Secondly, our mission covers a lot. It is large. And – many folks don’t understand the connection between healthy communities and transportation issues and it is often difficult to help them understand how smart growth is good for the local economy.
Saving a cute animal (great photo) or raising money to send kids to camp (great photos) but pictures of a train or nice infill development – not as cute. Red brick here!