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Be a Beacon of Hope and You'll Attract More Support
People need something about which they can be hopeful. Therefore, your marketing should position your organization as a beacon of hope.
But be careful. Too many fundraisers take this imperative literally. They promote their organizations’ achievements and they beg donors to focus on their organizations’ needs— so they can do more.
This doesn’t give the donors hope.
When I call on you to “be the beacon of hope,” I am not suggesting you talk about how great your organization is, but rather how great the donor can be if they would only just support your organization— so it can do for the world what one individual cannot do on their own.
It’s a gentle nuance.
Make the donor believe that he or she can be the hero in the story if they’d only join forces with your team.
That will make them feel hopeful. And, they will be attracted to your light like a ship carrying a payload of gold across a turbulent sea.
As Jim Lord wrote in his classic book The Raising of Money, “They’ll put their money where they see promise.”
Here’s how St. Jude does it (and I think they know what they’re doing). There are only three sentences in this ad but all of them make the donor feel hopeful. “You can improve the world if you’ll only join us to support our mission,” is what their ad implies.
They are competing with you and doing it well.
Be a beacon of hope and you’ll attract more support.
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4 responses to “Be a Beacon of Hope and You'll Attract More Support”
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Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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Timely thoughts, Greg. I’m just working with a 38-year, local “in the black” theater group that wants to put in new seats, etc… I’m suggesting a “Invest in Success” campaign……donors putting their money where they see promise and also believe in the group’s future security.
Timely thoughts, Greg. I’m just working with a 38-year, local “in the black” theater group that wants to put in new seats, etc… I’m suggesting a “Invest in Success” campaign……donors putting their money where they see promise and also believe in the group’s future security.
You are right on (as usual) Margie!
You are right on (as usual) Margie!