Don't Miss These 5 Tips to Improve Donor Communications

According to a study by Frank C. Dickerson, Ph.D., emotion and human-interest narratives work better in fundraising communications because of the way in which the brain is hardwired to process language. You can easily test this theory out yourself in other areas, such as news stories that go viral across the nation. These news reports are often compelling because there is a story and human-interest narrative that goes along with the facts that are reported. A weather report is not nearly as interesting until there is a story of personal hardship or a story of a community coming together to overcome a tragedy.

The same is true for the planned giving information that you provide to your donors. The mere fact that a charitable gift annuity can provide a stream of income becomes more engaging when accompanied by a story of someone who actually uses a charitable gift annuity to fulfill philanthropic goals or a story that showcases the wonderful impact of that charitable gift on the larger community.

Below are five tips to help you successfully apply this knowledge to your web and print communications:

     1. Include donor stories with interesting narratives (not just information about your organization and the details of the gift).

     2. Use impact stories to show how donor gifts make a difference, along with the emotional impact of those gifts. How were lives changed?

     3. Use illustrative examples of how people can successfully utilize charitable gift vehicles. Demonstrate plausible gift scenarios. Helpful information doesn’t have to contain only the facts.

     4. Add photos to convey emotion and human interest in your communications.  But avoid using gratuitous photos or photos that don’t have captions relating them back to the text.

     5. Infuse humor and joy in your written materials to avoid overly formal text.

Your donors are likely not so different from you in what they enjoy reading, how they process information, and how they make charitable gift decisions. Make sure your philanthropic message gets communicated in ways that work for them.

At Pentera, we pride ourselves on top-quality storytelling that motivates charitable giving. Contact us today to learn more about our donor-story writing services.