Generous Choice, Smart Marketing

Generous

I wrote last week about making generous choices as you create your fundraising:

  • It’s generous to cross the gap to your donor’s level of understanding instead of asking her to cross the gap to your level of understanding.
  • It’s generous to write and design your letter/email so that a reader doesn’t have to read the whole thing to get the point.

Both those choices are generous, and will increase how much revenue your fundraising brings in. 

There’s another choice that will also increase how much revenue you bring in:

  • Choosing to make your fundraising about your beneficiaries and about your donors will help you raise more money and do more good.

Here’s why…

Size of Market

There are far more people who care about your beneficiaries than there are who care about your organization. 

In other words, the “market” of people who would like to help your beneficiaries or cause is a LOT bigger than the “market” of people who would like to help your organization.

I tried to make this point in the following graphic (which I’ve never been completely satisfied with).  But seeing it is still helpful:

So as you create your direct response fundraising, remember that it doesn’t have to focus on your organization. 

Make the generous choice: create other-centered fundraising.  And from a marketing perspective, it’s also the smarter choice.

Your organization will be just as effective at its work if you don’t talk about your organization in your fundraising. 

If fact, you will likely be more effective because you’ll be raising more money and doing more good.