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Opportunities vs. Problems: Which will your donors support?
I’ll cut to the chase. People want to take advantage of opportunities more than they want to solve problems.
Here’s how it works in fundraising.
“Problem” messages:
- We need help
- The water is dirty and undrinkable
- Over 25,000 children are hungry
- Too many homeless people are freezing
- We are running dangerously low on blood
“Opportunity” messages:
- You can make a huge difference for Sarah
- You can make the water clean and drinkable for Baako
- Your donation will feed Sasha
- Your gift will give Jim the blanket he needs to stay warm
- Your blood could save Jenna’s life
I’m not saying you should avoid explaining the problems. I’m just saying your messages should frame the problems in ways that present them as opportunities.
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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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I love this approach to fundraising. I’m planning to purchase your book soon.