Don't ignore my emotions and reasons for giving

Dayton, Ohio -- Friends often ask me to help edit their resumes, which I'm glad to do. But when I give them the edited version, they often remark, "It doesn't tell about everything I do" or "It doesn't list all my responsibilities."

I remind them that the point of a resume isn't to list every accomplishment and job responsibility. The goal of a resume is to help get a job interview. Those are two very different goals. To get a job interview, you never need more than a one-page resume, even if you have 30+ years of work experience.

Non-profits often fall into a similar trap when creating fundraising materials. They create a piece that describes their program rather than sells their program. When you describe a program, you focus on the program's features. When you sell a program, you focus on the needs and desires of the person to whom you're selling. Focusing on the program is an internal gaze. Focusing on the donor is an external gaze.

Before I begin writing a piece for a client, I give them a copy platform document that outlines things such as the unique selling proposition and the fears and desires of the potential donor. It also includes information about donors' potential emotions and what the client is offering to the donor. You can't create a successful piece without getting inside the donor's head because many donors give to your organization for reasons other than what's in your mission statement. (Think about memorial gifts, for example.)

Perhaps you're raising money for heart disease research. What percentage of your donors give because of a personal experience with heart disease? (e.g., a family member had heart disease) If the percentage is significant, then donors may be giving to help others avoid the significant emotional pain they've personally experienced. They may not be giving as much to cure heart disease as they are to help others avoid a terrible experience. (If you think their giving would be different without the personal experience, then that experience is a significant emotional reason for their support.)

When someone mentions heart disease to me, the first thing I think of is my two grandfathers, both of whom died of heart attacks. I don't think of a disease. I'm flooded with memories of their deaths and what I felt at the time. My motivation to give to a non-profit would be fueled by those emotions. And if you ignore those emotions, you ignore why I want to give.

So ask yourself, what are my donors thinking? What are they feeling? What do they want to have? What do they want to avoid? Those are the types of questions that will transform your fundraising communication and the amount you are able to raise.