Raise more money by telling donors what they want to hear. Your donors don’t care how special your organization is, and telling your donors your organization is unique doesn’t help you raise money. In fact, it usually causes you to raise less money.
That’s because most donors care more about 1) who needs help, and 2) the improvement in the beneficiary’s life if the donor gives a gift.
How you make that improvement happen just doesn’t matter to most donors. We’ve done test after test and they all come back basically the same:
- If you talk about the Need and the improvement that will be caused by the donor’s gift, lots of money pours in.
- If you highlight your uniqueness by talking about how your organization serves it’s beneficiaries . . . a little money drips in.
Most donors are simply much more interested in the who their gift helps and the improvement that happens when they give. Yes, a few major donors (and your Staff and Board) are very interested in how your organization does its thing. Save your talk about uniqueness for them.
Don’t include “uniqueness” in your messaging to donors. Focus on what the donor can do with their gift, not how you make it happen.
