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If you haven’t seen the KONY 2012 video from Invisible Children, take a half hour and watch it here.  (You’ll have to scroll down just below the fold to see the video.)

The video — and the campaign it supports — do so many fundraising things RIGHT that it’s unbelievable.  Its an object lesson in communications for a nonprofit.  And here’s the thing; you can do the same thing for your cause.

Here are three things they did right that you can emulate:

1. They gave the Problem a human face.  They focused the beginning of their story on one young boy, Jacob.  Humans (i.e., everybody watching the video) relate to other humans.  We can’t relate to statistics and large numbers.  Invisible Children could have bombarded us with statistics.  They didn’t.  They introduced us to a person.  You should too.
2. They showed us a specific Problem that needs to be solved.  That’s the first step to any good fundraising offer; show the potential donor a compelling problem.  Do you show your donors problems (that they can solve) or do you show them only successes?   Show problems, ask the donor to solve them, and you’ll raise more money.
3. They showed us a Solution that made sense.  I thought, “They’re right, we need to get rid of this guy.”  And their method for doing so made sense.  Does your fundraising ask your donors to take a specific, understandable action right now that makes sense?

I bet there will be complaints.  I bet the video will be lambasted by people who say they are oversimplifying the problem.  I bet they’ll hear from people who say they should be focusing on some other problem.  Of course there will.  People disagree on how to treat homelessness.  People can’t even agree on how to fight cancer.

I hope Invisible Children doesn’t pay much attention to the complaints.  I hope they work like crazy to solve the problem they’ve identified.

And I hope you’re working just as hard to solve the problem your nonprofit is working on.

 

You’ve heard the phrase, “Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.”  We find it to be incredibly helpful.

So, what’s the Main Thing in raising money?

==> Asking.

Asking your donors to give you money?

===> Nope.  The Main Thing is to show them how they can make the world a better place (via your organization) and then asking the donor to make the world a better place right now.

The best nonprofits and fundraisers don’t ask their donors to send them money.  They ask their donors to make a change in the world.

Look at your asks.  Are you asking your donors to make the world a better place?

If your asks are just about “donations” or “support” then you’ve got some work to do.  But the good news is that you can raise a bunch more money than you’re currently raising.

Do you know what donors want?

That is a crazy simple question and almost no one asks it.  Seriously, it is ASTONISHING how few nonprofits and fundraisers even think about what donors want.  This is like making an ad for a grocery store that features only the foods the store employees like.  Crazy, right?  But it happens every day.

So the next fundraising letter you want, or the time you talk to a major donor, or the next time you do anything that relates to a donor, here’s what to think about.

A donor wants two things.

1. They want to make the world a better place according to their values.
2. They want a problem that they can solve.

Think about it.  Donors give to certain causes (and organizations) because something about the cause or the beneficiaries resonates with them.  They care.  Or to use more fancy language, the change in the world that the organization makes is aligned with the values of the donor.  If a man’s father died of cancer, he’s likely to donate to an organization that is trying to cure cancer.  If a person has a soft spot for animals they are likely to donate to a pet shelter.

What does this mean for you?  It means your values matter.  And it means that if you can talk about your work and values in a way that donors see commonality then you’ll be more attractive to more donors.

The second part is something most organizations get wrong.  Nonprofits tend to think that donors want to fund the work of the nonprofit.  That can be true but most of the time it isn’t.  Most of the times donors want to solve a problem.  They want a hungry person to have a good meal.  They want a sick person to receive the cure.  Solving a problem is great because for the donor it means that they did something concrete.  They saw a situation that was against their values (a person was hungry) and they fixed it (that person now has a hot meal).

The donor solved the problem.  They closed the loop.  Donors LOVE stuff like that.

The more times you can give donors specific problems to solve the more money you’ll raise.

There’s one word you’ll hear over and over at Better Fundraising For All;

= = = >  Outcomes

“Outcomes” are what you and your organization produce.  An outcome is a specific, measurable change in the world.  A new art installation on the corner of 5^th and Jackson is an outcome.  A person cured of leprosy is an outcome.  An orphan in a loving home is an outcome.

Donors love outcomes.  They love concrete evidence that their gift to you made the world a better place.

When a person makes a donation to a nonprofit they “buy” an outcome.  But they don’t get anything tangible in return for their donation, do they?  For example, a donor could spend $25 a month to buy 3 pounds of freshly roasted coffee delivered to their door each month.  It’s easy to see what the outcome is; every month great-smelling, great-tasting coffee arrives on their doorstep.

So what is a donor buying with their $25 monthly donation to your nonprofit?  They are buying an outcome, a specific change in the world.

Most nonprofits screw this up in one of two ways:

1. The organization doesn’t deliver an outcome to their donor.  Don’t be one of those.  And the best nonprofits — the nonprofits that donors give gifts to again and again — find a way to make their outcomes as real as the coffee.  They describe it so well that their donors can literally picture and smell — even anticipate — the outcome they’ll pr0duce with their next gift.
2. The organizations delivers a Processes instead of Outcomes.  That’s like delivering a coffee grinder instead of coffee.  Their letters and newsletters (and websites) talk in great detail about their programs, or who their partners are, or the methods they use to work with their beneficiaries.  But the vast majority of donors are more interested in knowing about the outcome their gift will produce (or has already produced).  Was the art installed?  Did the homeless mother get safe shelter?  Does the orphan now have a home?

Here’s the easy way to remember this principal; donors fund outcomes, not processes.  Write it down on a sticky note and paste it on your monitor.  So if you’re talking to donors about your processes, stop it.  Instead, talk about the outcomes that will happen when a donor gives a gift and you’ll raise a lot more money.

 

Do you want to know the 5 core secrets that every good Development Director knows?  And how to use them to raise more money tomorrow – and make 2012 your best year ever?

This free coaching session will teach you:

• ==> How the “segmentation double-whammy” saves you money AND raises more money
• ==> Exactly how to ASK in a way that’s comfortable to you and gets results

Read more or sign up now!

According to the IRS, there are now 1.5 million charities in the United States.  What does that mean for you?  Most likely your charity is a very small fish in a very large pond.

So, what can you do to raise more money?

If you really want to raise more money — in other words, if you want to do as much good as you can — then you need to tell your beneficiaries’ stories in the most compelling way possible.

Here’s the biggest trap that nonprofits fall into; they think that what they do is so great that they let their communications get lazy.  If you’ve ever heard (or thought) either of these two ideas, you’ve fallen into the trap.

• “We don’t understand why more people don’t support us.  What we’re doing here is so powerful!”
• “Why do so many of our donors give only one gift but we never hear from them again?”

Here’s what happened.  Every day you go to work you see the work of your organization and how powerful it is.  You get so excited about how your organization does it’s work.  Then when it comes time to talk to your donors, you tell them what you are excited about.  You talk about your methods and your processes.  In other words, you talk about how you do your work instead of talking about what your work does.

But donors don’t care that much about how you do the work.  Donors care about the results you create with their gift.  So talk about results.

Look, we live in a country where there is one charity for every 200 people.  That’s a lot of competition for donor dollars.  But most charities do their fundraising like there are just 5 charities for their donors to choose from.  Dumb.  Right now, today, there are 1.5 million charities and the donor dollars are going to the organizations who produce amazing results and who tell their donors about the results their gifts caused.

So, make your case powerfully.  Focus on the results.

We believe that the work you are doing is making the world a better place right now.  Tell your donors what you did, not how you did it.

 

Want to know how YOU can raise more money in 2012?  Register for the free tele-class “Raise More Money in 2012.”  It’s Friday, January 6, at 10:00 am PST.

In just one hour we’ll help you:

• Uncover hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your organizations fundraising and stewardship
• Set a goal for how much you want to raise in 2012 and a plan for how to do it
• Re-energize you to raise more money with less work in 2012.

Take advantage of our 35 years of stewardship and fundraising expertise!  We don’t want  you to go another day without raising enough money to meet your goals.

Register now! ===> This class has already happened and the attendees are currently figuring out what to do with all the extra money they are raising.  If you’d like to get an MP3 of the class, send an email to shartman at theedgegroup dot org.

Fundraisers are the leverage point.  They – you! – are the fulcrum at which a little sweat and knowledge can make the world a better place.

This huge opportunity comes from a scary scenario that looks like this:

More nonprofits than ever before

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More people working in nonprofits than ever before

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Lack of real fundraising training

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Fundraising that doesn’t work

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Closed nonprofits and lost jobs

 

Scary, isn’t it?  But think for a moment with us; imagine the power of more fundraisers who really understand good fundraising!  Think of the impact on their organizations, their donors and the world!  For us this scenario goes from scary to scary exciting pretty quickly.

Because here’s the thing; Fundraising makes the world a better place every day.  What you are doing is literally making the world a better place.  And here’s what most people don’t know – you are making your donors’ lives better too.

Every relevant study shows that donors who give gifts feel more connected to the world around them.  The studies also show that donors are physically healthier than non donors.  Finally, research shows donors are happier than non donors.  You get to be a part of making their lives empirically better!

Through your work you get to:

1. Make your donors happier and healthier
2. Increase the capacity of your organization
3. Make the world a better place via the outcomes your organization produces

That’s crazy great.

The mission of Better Fundraising For All is to provide free fundraising tools and counsel to people like you who want to raise more money.  For people and organizations who want more in-depth help and training, we work for a fee.  And if you benefit from Better Fundraising For All, we ask that you share your successes so that others can learn from them.  A rising tide lifts all boats.

Does it make sense now?  How Fundraisers like you are such a powerful force for good?

Look at what we can do together:

More nonprofits than ever before

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More people working in nonprofits than ever before

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Easy, effective fundraising training

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You raising more money

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Making the world a better place every day

 

The more tools you have, the more money you’ll raise, the more successful you and your organization will be.

Be a part of it.  Read our free newsletter.  Take our classes.  Raise more money and make the world a better place!

Want to know how to raise more money between now and New Years?  Here’s a recent tele-class given by Jim Shapiro and Steven Screen.

Listen here!