Donating Is an Opportunity. Does Your Messaging Present it Clearly?
What to tell yourself next time you're worried about bothering your donors with one more email
As a nonprofit leader, when you explain what your organization does, do you also explain why it matters?
To a donor, understanding one without the other is the difference between a donation that feels like an obligation and one that feels like an opportunity—a chance for someone to help improve upon a problem they want solved.
When the right person hears the message and doesn't give, it's rarely a generosity problem. It's a clarity problem.
What You Do Is Only Half the Story
A food pantry provides food. That's what you do. But that's only a small part of what the donor is actually funding when they give.
Your why has much greater impact.
They're funding dignity: the difference between a family feeling like a neighbor and feeling like a case number.
They're funding peace of mind: the parent who can provide for their kids, despite falling on hard times.
The shift applies no matter what your mission is:
A scholarship doesn't just cover tuition, it funds a chance at a future the student would not otherwise have.
An afterschool program for kids with different abilities doesn't just provide childcare, it gives a sense of belonging they may not feel elsewhere.
Why Your Why May Be Left Out
When we're so close to the work, it's hard to know what our donors do or do not know. The curse of knowledge makes us assume that they know what we do. But unless they're in the weeds like you are every day, odds are they don't fully understand the impact of your work.
They may know you provide food, but they don't understand how that translates to protecting dignity unless you make it clear in your communications.
Why Leaving Out Your Why Has a Ripple Effect on Your Communications
We tend to think we're bothering our donors when we email them too often, especially during high volume times like year-end giving season.
But if your emails clearly present both the what and the why of what you do, then your mentality needs to shift:
You're not bothering your donors, you're providing them with an opportunity to help address an issue they think needs solving.
Yes, sometimes donors need a reminder, but when you send emails that show them the impact of their gift, they become emails your donors want to read.
Because clarity creates connection.
If this resonated with you marketing guru Seth Godin has a brilliant take on what we're really selling in our fundraising communications, which you can check out here.
After a decade as an in-house nonprofit marketer, Jordana Merkin founded Voice for Good to bring her insider knowledge and outsider perspective to help leaders of growing nonprofits like yours clarify their messaging to raise awareness and funds for their missions.
Her work with nonprofit leaders includes messaging guides, communication strategy, and copywriting. (Learn more here!)
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