Donor Communications | Tom Ahern | Love Thy Reader.

Donor Communications | Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com 1

Love Thy Reader

Part 1

Making Your Case

“Why in the world would I trust you enough to give you

my hard-earned money?”

We do this, we initiate that, it’s all multidisciplinary ... so please give us money.

“Is 22 pages enough?”

If someone reads 150 words, you’re lucky.

30 words

$500 million goal

$20+ million raised

A case is not a detailed description of what you do.

“Donors are staggeringly ignorant of the causes

they support.”

-- Richard Radcliffe, dean of UK donor researchers

Just as good…

When she entered our 3rd grade, she couldn’t spell “cat.”

At the end of the year, she could spell “Tchaikovsky.”

A case is a description of what you promise.

Promise

18Donor Communications | Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com

A bigger endowment means discoveries come faster.

A bigger endowment means more improvements, better treatments, faster healing, and hope where there wasn't hope before.

A bigger endowment means we will more quickly penetrate the genetic and functional mysteries inside today's incurable diseases and find relief.

Promises

A case clearly and briefly explains the problem.

The truth about endowment Most people realize how important endowment is to high achievement.

It is no coincidence, for instance, that Harvard University has (1) higher education's largest endowment and (2) is perennially ranked number one among the nation's schools.

It is the same for hospitals. Endowment is vitally important to sustained high achievement. Insurance pays for the health care we already know how to do. But normal operating income does not underwrite remarkable advances in medicine.

What does?Endowment. Sometimes boosted by grants, very often alone,

endowment -- funding the right minds -- makes medical advances possible.

A case dramatizes the problem.

Dear Tom,

It was a typical warm, bright morning in "sun-sational" San Diego, one of 300 such days you and I enjoy each year.

Mr. Russ Moore, age 74, felt grand.

Then an unsuspected clot drifted into a narrow artery and stopped the blood flow to his brain.

Suddenly a warm, bright morning turned dark as death for Russ Moore. He fought for his life, impaled by a stroke.

A case acknowledges the donor’s importance.

Suddenly a warm, bright morning turned dark as death for Russ Moore. He fought for his life, impaled by a stroke.

I am writing today to thank you deeply for all your support of Sharp -- and especially to thank you on behalf of people like Russ Moore.

Russ had you by his side.

The truth is this: name any top hospital in America, and you'll discover that behind its continued success stand thousands of self-sacrificing benefactors like you.

Great community health care is no accident. It depends in critical ways on the generous hearts of you and other donors.

Your tagline is your case in just a few words.

You can’t teach a hungry child.

– Peninsula School Feeding Association (South Africa)

The audacity to fight for justice.The perseverance to win.

– National Center for Lesbian Rights

A case shows the solution (as well as tells).

Problem

Solution

A case offers proof that you’re fulfilling your

mission.

Anecdotal proof

Front-line proof

Testimonials are proof

“By any measure, Smile Train is one of the most well-managed and cost-efficient charities around.” -- Bill Bradley

Trust and results.“The research … found that trust in an

organization (82%) and measurable community impacts (81%) are key to

decision makers when determining which cause to support.”

Cone, Inc., January 2007

A case talks about why your mission matters...

...i.e., what the donor will achieve by supporting you.

Come to our breakfast,we’ll come to your fire.

Gold Beach, Oregon, Volunteer Fire Department(from Bowling Alone)

“Why we matter”

Not sure why you matter?

Pretend you’ve gone away.

A case answers the question, “Why now?”

Dear Tom,

I am writing today -- on behalf of a select group of charities -- to ask your help.

More than a few of your neighbors in Dutchess County need you. Desperately need you, to be perfectly honest.

Neighbors like Shiobahn.

Pretty name, you might be thinking. It's Irish for Joan. But Shiobahn was trapped in an ugly, terrifying, secret life.

Make a gift to this special"Help Your Neighbors" appeal -- and you'll

earn the community's profound thanksthroughout 2010.

A campaign case talks about where you’re headed.

You’re at A.

People are living longer in America all the time. And for 3 out of 5, it’s a very bitter ending … for themselves and their families.

Why? Because 3 out of 5 Americans over the age of 85 today get Alzheimer’s.

What’s your B?

But that grim outlook could soon improve.

Our research could help shrink the number afflicted with Alzheimer’s significantly, maybe down to 1 in 5 -- within a decade.

We’re ready. But we can’t do it without your help.

In a nutshell: We researched. And we discovered weaknesses that this $3 billion campaign will fix. It’s just a matter of money.

Yale College is thriving, perhaps as never before.

Recognizing that excellence is no excuse for complacency…

…recommended substantial improvements in the curriculum…

Promise: “science-rich”

Promise: arts expansion

Promise: building multinational graduates

Promise: bringing a Yale education within reach of anyone

good enough to be admitted

Promise: perpetual glory. These are mostly named endowments.

Blah, blah, blah, problem, blah, blah, blah, evil…

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

This has 2 B’s: the “fork in the road” story.

Preparing for the future (completion date: 2017) Clearly, higher education can't stand still; nor of course can Providence College. The Dominicans’ values are the same. What is not the same as in 1917, the year of our founding (America enters the First World War) ... or in 1947 (the baby boom) ... or in 1967 (first heart transplant) ... or even in 1987 (Mikhail Gorbachev announces perestroika; Google is still a decade off) ... is the world where Providence College graduates compete for success. It is a demanding, competitive, rapidly shifting world; a world where the rate of change is furiously fast. Consider just two facts:

A case anticipates and answers objections.

A case invites the donor to join your family.

Dear Tom, You came to Sharp as a patient, in need of help. Thank you for that profound act of trust. Now I come to you, humbly, to ask for your help in turn.

The cause of community health care here in San Diego needs you.

A case invites the donor to make something wonderful happen.

How do you start a miracle growing?You plant a gift in your will. "Medical miracles" in children's health care ... ... those breathtaking advances that, when you first hear of them, seem almost impossible to believe ... ... can often be traced back to just two things: 1. an idea in the right mind; and ... 2. enough philanthropic investment to transform that wonderful idea into a healing reality.

A case offers the donor a chance to achieve

something emotionally satisfying.

Veritas: The 100th Anniversary Campaign Goal: To make Providence College the premier Catholic liberal arts school in America

Note the testimonial proof

A case is a collection of key messages...

...think of it as as a quiver of “message arrows.”

What are your bows?Your media: direct mail,

email, newsletters, brochures, web pages,

annual reports, etc.

Do you want me as well as my money?

“Absolutely. Your trust and confidence are

important, NOT the size of your gift.”

“Friend-raisers” raise more money than

fundraisers.

Part 2

The donor’s mind( ... let’s listen in ... )

I want to be recognized and valued for my gift.

Source: Key donor desires, from Ken Burnett’s The Zen of Fundraising

I want to feel good about giving.

Puppies, kittens (and children) raise a lot of money. It’s the cuteness factor.

I want to know how my money will be used and what difference it will

make.Source: Key donor desires, from Ken Burnett’s The Zen of Fundraising

Wretchedly, we call ourselves “nonprofits.”What are the business connotations of that?

I want to be inspired.

We give to what we naturally love.

“Giving is not about a calculation of what you are buying,” Yale economics professor, Dean Karlan, proved. “It is about participating in a fight.”

The New York Times | March 9, 2008

I want to feel involved, a part of something.

I want to be impressed, so I can tell others

about the cause and recruit them to support

it.Source: Key donor desires, from Ken Burnett’s The Zen of Fundraising

“We’re a little, mission-driven place that wants to be recognized for providing the best care for the poorest people.”

– Susan Kelly, president Charles Drew U. of Medicine and Science, 2008

I want you to ask my opinion.

I want to know that you listen to me.

Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion

• Reciprocation: We feel obligated to return favors performed for us.

• Authority: We look to experts to show us the way.

• Commitment/consistency: We want to act consistently with our commitments and values.

Source: Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini

Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion

• Scarcity: The less available the resource, the more we want it.

• Likability: The more we like people, the more we want to say yes to them.

• Social proof: We look to what others do to guide our behavior.

Source: Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini

Neurobiology says…

“Our brains notice and respond to what is new. Not what is interestingly new or significant, but new in any way at all.”

Source: Sean Kernan

New93Donor Communications | Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com

Anything

Will Grab My Attention

Corollary: You will never BORE anyone into being interested.

Great brands are “stories that are never completely told.”

– Scott Bedbury

Direct mail’s 7 favorite triggers

• Anger

• Exclusivity

• Fear

• Flattery

• Greed

• Guilt

• Salvation

You are hereby invited [flattery] to become a

Member [exclusivity] of the Kennedy Center

at a full 20% discount [greed]

and gain the special privilege [exclusivity] to

purchase advance tickets before the general public [greed]

to the finest Kennedy Center presentations. [exclusivity]

Mal Warwick’s 5 positive triggers

• Hope

• Love

• Compassion

• Duty

• Faith

• Joy• Gratitude• Serenity• Interest• Hope• Pride• Amusement• Inspiration• Awe• Love

Source: Dr. Barbara Frederickson, author, Positivity

Top 10 positive emotions:i.e., these are what you’re selling to your prospective donors

Negative and positive emotional triggers

work in pairs.

Subtext: “This is what your support prevents.”

One word has unique power to bring the audience closer:

Get yourself one of these

Email subject line: You are amazing

Dear Tom,

Because of you, we reached our Summer Match Campaign fundraising goal. Thank you!

Now it's time to turn up the grassroots pressure to support climate action in the Senate.

With supporters like you by my side, it's impossible to get cynical. I just want to say thank you!

Source: Environmental Defense Fund, August 2009

you will

“…the key motivator for giving is not need, but

opportunity.”

Opportunity

Opportunity to have a major impact for little effort

Opportunity

Opportunity to make a lasting tribute

Donor Communications | Tom Ahern | Love Thy Reader.

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