I recently started experimenting with SlideShare and think it has great possibilities for the nonprofit community. You can see my profile and two SlideShare presentations here or watch one here:
If you ever make presentations about your organization to other groups (e.g. Rotary, etc.), you can easily turn it into a SlideShare presentation. Simply post your PowerPoint to SlideShare and then post your recorded remarks in MP3 format. SlideShare lets you connect the two pieces, and tell it when to change slides. It's a very quick and easy process. You can even sit at your desk and create the entire presentation using your PC's microphone.
I see SlideShare possibilities for volunteer training, staff training, and donor updates, among other areas.
Showing posts with label influence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label influence. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Would like fries with that, and would you like to donate to the Ronald McDonald House?
Dayton, Ohio -- Yesterday I bought a coffee at the McDonald's drive thru. The person on the other end of the speaker asked me, "Would you like to donate a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House?"
When I got up to the window, I asked her how many people donate a dollar. She told me about 1 in every 20 cars. That didn't seem like a very good number, so I began to think about how she could modify her question to increase results. I also wondered how many people she asked even knew what the Ronald McDonald House does? I also figured she only has time for a single sentence.
I think her results would be significantly better if she asked this:
"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House"
Why would it be more effective? Because her original question was "would you like to donate a dollar..." She gave no reason to donate a dollar, only a request. It's easy to say "no" to that. It's more difficult to say, "no, I don't want to help families whose children are in the hospital." The new question also puts the "ask" at the end of the sentence, after the reason.
Research has shown that using the word "because" in a request significantly increases the affirmative responses. So, perhaps this question would be even better:
"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House, because it would mean a lot to those families."
The interesting thing about the research is that it doesn't matter what the reason is you give after the word "because," simply using that word increases response.
So today I'm going to buy coffee at the same McDonalds and give the person at the window my new question.
How would you change her original question to make it more effective? What questions do you ask in your solicitation letters that could be made more effective?
When I got up to the window, I asked her how many people donate a dollar. She told me about 1 in every 20 cars. That didn't seem like a very good number, so I began to think about how she could modify her question to increase results. I also wondered how many people she asked even knew what the Ronald McDonald House does? I also figured she only has time for a single sentence.
I think her results would be significantly better if she asked this:
"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House"
Why would it be more effective? Because her original question was "would you like to donate a dollar..." She gave no reason to donate a dollar, only a request. It's easy to say "no" to that. It's more difficult to say, "no, I don't want to help families whose children are in the hospital." The new question also puts the "ask" at the end of the sentence, after the reason.
Research has shown that using the word "because" in a request significantly increases the affirmative responses. So, perhaps this question would be even better:
"Would you help families whose children are in the hospital by donating a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House, because it would mean a lot to those families."
The interesting thing about the research is that it doesn't matter what the reason is you give after the word "because," simply using that word increases response.
So today I'm going to buy coffee at the same McDonalds and give the person at the window my new question.
How would you change her original question to make it more effective? What questions do you ask in your solicitation letters that could be made more effective?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Rory Sutherland on advertising
Dayton, Ohio -- TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Here's a very interesting video about perception and advertising from one of their recent events.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Influence: Science and Practice
Dayton, Ohio -- I just started reading Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini. I'm only a chapter into it and it's already fascinating, with many implications for direct mail and face-to-face fundraising.
Cialdini (a former fundraiser and salesperson, and currently a professor of social psychology) discusses the factors that cause someone to say "yes," and which techniques most effectively use those factors to get someone to say "yes." For example, does asking a question in different ways change the response of the person being asked?
Cialdini says that giving a reason for your request -- ANY reason -- significantly improves "yes" responses. A study tested this by having a person ask to cut in line at the copier in a library. When the person asked, "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine," only 60% of those asked said "yes." But when the question was changed to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush," 94% of those asked responded with a "yes."
It seems simple enough. The person is in a rush, so you let them go ahead, right? But when the question was changed again, this time to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies," 93% of those asked still responded with a "yes" -- even though a real reason wasn't given. (Of course you have to make copies.)
This is going to be one interesting book. As I read chapters, I'll write more about the fundraising implications.
Cialdini (a former fundraiser and salesperson, and currently a professor of social psychology) discusses the factors that cause someone to say "yes," and which techniques most effectively use those factors to get someone to say "yes." For example, does asking a question in different ways change the response of the person being asked?
Cialdini says that giving a reason for your request -- ANY reason -- significantly improves "yes" responses. A study tested this by having a person ask to cut in line at the copier in a library. When the person asked, "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine," only 60% of those asked said "yes." But when the question was changed to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush," 94% of those asked responded with a "yes."
It seems simple enough. The person is in a rush, so you let them go ahead, right? But when the question was changed again, this time to "Excuse me, I have five pages, may I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies," 93% of those asked still responded with a "yes" -- even though a real reason wasn't given. (Of course you have to make copies.)
This is going to be one interesting book. As I read chapters, I'll write more about the fundraising implications.
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