21 Fund Raising Tips

21 ways
to make your
fund raising
more effective

Fund raising is mostly no different than other forms of advertising or direct marketing: keep your language clear and direct, make your message informative, tell compelling stories. However, fund raising does put its own special spin on the usual creative guidelines.

by John Friesen

1. Start with a well-thought-out strategy. This is where everything begins: Know the audience you’re talking to, what pushes their hot buttons, and how you want them to feel and react to your messages.
   
   
2. Talk to the background and experience of the person you want to reach. This may mean crafting varia-tions of your message for different donor groups. Elite groups respond to different motivators and messages than average citizens; CEOs respond differently than managers or entrepreneurs. Young singles are different than old married couples. Each group may respond to the same core values or ideas, but only when couched in their terms.
   
   
3. It follows that you can never go wrong by testing different messages and prospect groups.
   
   
4. In the mail, strong, attention-grabbing headlines work well in combination with long copy. Why? Because people like to read. Provided you keep it interesting and relevant, your copy can’t be too long. And it’s the best way to tell your whole story.
   
5. By itself, media advertising doesn’t usually bring in much money—but it can give a sharp boost to your mail campaign.
   
   
6. Your design and choice of images should complement your message and make the whole piece easier to read and understand.
   
   
7. For the sake of your identity, be consistent in your design and the way you say things.
   
   
8. Big ideas—ones that grab attention and stick in the mind—lead to extraordinary results.
   
   
9. People won’t give just because you have a worthy cause. You have to reach inside their chests, give their hearts a massage and make them feel good about helping.
   
   
10. People give more readily for specific projects and capital needs, than for general operating expenses.
    
    
11. People need facts to back up their decisions to give, but they give for emotional reasons.
    
    
12. People like to feel special, to receive rewards, recognition and special treatment. If possible, give them memberships, plaques, invitations to special events, prominent publicity and other symbols of their giving. Make them part of an online community.
    
    
13. People won’t respond if you bore them. Remember 9 out of 10 people find statistics inherently boring and far less compelling than good stories and rewards.
    
    
14. People believe credible, detailed testimonials. Celebrity backing may help, especially if your cause or the issues it raises have personally touched the celebrity. Because he’s been there, Robert Downey Jr. may be a better celebrity for an anti-drug message than, say, a squeaky-clean Kathy Lee.
    
    
15. People respond better when you tell them exactly what to do, how to do it, and why (so get to the point, no pussy-footing).
    
    
16. It helps to put something on the envelope.
    
    
17. It helps to pre-pay the return envelope.
    
    
18. It helps to accept credit cards and direct bank debits.
    
    
19. If you have a website (and you should), add a DONATE button, make sure you keep the steps to donate simple, and thank your donors at least three times: on the site, by email and by regular mail.
    
    
20. Save humor and cleverness for cocktail parties. People don’t like clowns, or advertising that is too clever. Nobody ever said: “I laughed till I gave."
    
    
21. Never forget to say thank you.

Bonus tip: It’s okay to spend money on your campaigns, but they shouldn’t look expensive.

John Friesen has over 20 years experience creating successful direct marketing fund raising, B2B, B2C, and interactive campaigns.

Reach him at: 604-812-1332. Email: jffriesen@shaw.ca