The #1 relationship advice you need for end-of-year communications (and the rest of the year)

Who else is experiencing a mini panic that it’s October already? Perhaps that’s actually putting it, uh, mildly?

Now is about the time we in the nonprofit world realize that the end of the year is only two months away. Which, on a fundraising calendar, is essentially tomorrow.

So with an imminent deadline, we quickly cobble together an appeal in which we list all the wonderful things our amazing nonprofit accomplished this calendar year, and we highlight the goals we have for our stalwart leaders in the 365 days ahead.

We. Our. We, we, our.

We’re impressive, huh?

And we are masters at talking about ourselves. How many programs we create. How our staff is the best in the business. How we save/serve/protect more than any other organization.

We rock, and so you should give to us!

But donors are not bystanders to our greatness, and they do not give to allow us to achieve said greatness. Donors give to feel something. And our words need to inspire those emotions.

Our relationships depend on reframing communications to be donor-centric: knowing who our donor is and embracing them as the hero of our organization’s story. Our language should talk directly to the donor and encourage their motivations for giving.

Sounds great, Caren, but how do I flip the script?

Start by reviewing your letter and asking yourself “Who is doing the doing?” Make your donor the actor in your story. That is, place the action—the doing (saving/serving/protecting)—in the hero’s hands.

Consider this example:

Original: Your gift helps us continue to feed homeless youth.

Revised: You are providing hot breakfasts for homeless youth.

In the original sentence, the donor’s gift passively helps us feed homeless youth. (See, we’re great!) The revised sentence, by shifting the action to the donor, celebrates the real hero—the donor provides hot breakfasts.

Oh, and take note that donors—our heroes—are human. Their checkbooks aren’t.

In her book Donor Centered Fundraising, acclaimed author and fundraiser Penelope Burk says:

Heavy focus in the development industry on volume of donors and dollars raised is often at the expense of creating relationships with the very people that fundraising programs are trying to capture and keep. When only the money matters, we lose the donor pretty quickly and, along with it, that donor’s future potential. (Bold emphasis my own.)

As development officers/executive directors/advancement professionals, we are responsible for building relationships with people, not with money.

Let’s revisit the above example:

Original: Your gift helps us continue to feed homeless youth.

Revised: You are providing hot breakfasts for homeless youth.

Not only does the original line bill the organization (“us”) in the starring role, it also suggests that the donor’s gift, not the donor, is valued. The revised sentence shifts the action to the donor as a person—not as a cash machine. Which sentence would make your donor feel better about their decision to give?

We’ll continue to explore donor-centricity in future posts; subscribe to the blog so you don't miss any nuggets. In the meantime, I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook to start a conversation about where you'd like to take your communications.

No need to panic.