Why Your Fundraising Appeals Fall Flat (and How Emotional Intelligence Can Fix Them)

If you’ve ever sent out a fundraising appeal that didn’t land—no clicks, no gifts, no response—you’re not alone.

But the real problem isn’t your open rate, subject line, or font choice. It’s this: you may have written to the head and ignored the heart.

Too many fundraising messages are built on data, logic, and institutional priorities. But generosity is driven by something else entirely: emotion. And unless your message connects emotionally, it’s unlikely to move anyone to give.

The Science Is Clear: Emotions Drive Decisions

In his now-famous research, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio found that people with damage to the emotional centers of the brain—even if their logic remained intact—couldn’t make decisions.

They could weigh pros and cons, but they couldn’t choose.

In other words: emotion is the gateway to action.

And yet, many nonprofits continue to send appeals filled with facts, figures, and abstract “impact” without ever engaging the reader’s heart.

The best fundraisers (especially major gift and legacy gift fundraisers)—those with strong emotional intelligence—understand that giving isn’t transactional. It’s personal. It’s a statement of identity and purpose.

That’s why Start with Heart isn’t just the title of my book—it’s the only way to approach a truly effective message.

How Emotionally Intelligent Fundraisers Write Appeals

If you want your next appeal to resonate, you need to write with empathy, awareness, and emotional attunement. That means:

Visualizing the reader as a person, not a prospect.
Speaking to their values and experiences—not your internal goals.
Tapping into emotions like hope, anger, love, or loss with honesty and care.

A good rule of thumb? Before you send any fundraising message, ask yourself:

“Would this make me feel something if I received it?”

If not, rewrite it.

For example, compare these two sentences:

“Your support will help us meet our annual goal.”
“Your support helps a young woman become the first in her family to graduate college.”

One speaks to metrics. The other speaks to meaning.

Avoiding Guilt, Embracing Gratitude

A word of caution: emotional intelligence is not emotional manipulation.

Guilt, shame, or urgency tricks might spike short-term results, but they erode trust over time. Instead, appeal to aspiration. Help your supporters become the people they want to be. Let them see their values reflected in the work you do.

Gratitude and affirmation are more powerful motivators than guilt.

As Dr. Jen Shang has shown in her research on philanthropic psychology, donors give more and feel better when they are reminded of their moral self-concept – when giving feels like an act of becoming who they truly are.

Start with the Heart. End with Action.

Emotional intelligence helps you speak to donors in ways that move them, not just inform them.

That’s what makes your message memorable.

That’s what gets read, felt, and acted on.

And that’s how we stop writing appeals that fall flat—and start writing ones that lift people up.

Dr. Bill Crouch is the former President of Georgetown College and a longtime fundraising consultant, speaker, and author. His new book, Start with Heart: The Secret Power of Emotions to Catalyze Fundraising Results, invites nonprofit professionals to reimagine fundraising through the lens of emotional intelligence.