The bad part of the story helps us know how good the good part of the story is.
If your donors don’t know the “bad parts” – what things were like for a person before your organization helped, the emotions of the person when they were in need – your donors will never know how powerful your work is.
Because they don’t know how powerful your work is, your fundraising won’t raise as much money.
The “after” isn’t particularly interesting or powerful if you don’t know the “before.”
Steven Screen is Co-Founder of The Better Fundraising Company and lead author of its blog. With over 30 years' fundraising experience, he gets energized by helping organizations understand how they can raise more money. He’s a second-generation fundraiser, a past winner of the Direct Mail Package of the Year, and data-driven.
- Steven Screen
- Steven Screen
- Steven Screen
- Steven Screen
Hi,
Do you still think this is true for the hospice sector? It’s difficult to show a ‘bad death’.
Yes, I think it’s still true for Hospice care. You’re right that it’s difficult to show a bad death, but you can still talk about what a bad death is like, and how the donor’s gift can a) make sure that doesn’t happen for a person, and b) help provide all the loving care that you all provide. This sort of ‘doubles the power’ of your donors’ gifts because not only do they do something great (help provide your services) they **also** stop something bad from happening (a death without hospice care). And any time you can help your donors see that their gifts are even more powerful than they think they are, you’ll get more gifts.