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Fundraising Tuesday: Great Photos Make Great Appeal Letters

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stand out

Photos make your appeal stand out

Recently, I went through all the end-of-year appeal letters that 72 nonprofits sent me in 2017. (Yes, your letter too!)

I wanted to find out something very specific. How are nonprofits using photos in their fundraising letters?

Here’s what I can tell you: most of us are not using them well enough. That gives your group an opportunity to stand out from the pack–which is what you need to do to raise more  money.

How Nonprofits Use (and Don’t Use) Photos

No photo

wall of textAlmost half the organizations that asked me for money in November and December 2017 used no photo at all. Their letters were text-only.

They might have broken up the wall of text with frequent paragraph breaks, or bullet points, or bold, italic, or underlined phrases (all of which are a favor to the reader, because they make a letter easier to read). But no photos.

I would like to think that these organizations had A/B tested their lists, sending out letters to some people with a photo and some without, and determined that their list liked text only. Or, I’d like to think they took Alan Sharpe’s advice and made their letters so personal and so compelling that a photo would diminish the message.

But mostly, I don’t believe that. Instead, I think most of these organizations didn’t take the time to find or create effective photos all year round. So, when it was time to send out the appeal letters, they took the easy way out.

You can do better.

Some use of photos…

About a quarter of the nonprofits did send me appeal letters that included photos. Automatically, they had a better chance of grabbing my attention. And I am a “words person” by trade!

Words matter–but only if people read them.

When a donor receives your letter, she takes about three seconds to decide whether to read it or throw it in the recycling. In three seconds, what can she see? Possibly:

invite meBut more than any of these, a photo with a caption invites the donor in.

<–See what I mean?

 

 

 Photos Included, but Used in an Unfocused Way

The problem with many of these photos is lack of focus. And no, I don’t mean the image is blurry!  I mean that the nonprofit hasn’t thought about the main purpose for including photos: moving the donor to give.

In my mail, I saw many photos that failed to speak to the donor. They showed:

  • Staff members of the organization. (No offense, but you are not the ones the donors care about helping!)
  • Audiences listening to a speaker.
  • Crowds marching or rallying.
  • Multiple clients in different settings.

These photos may document what you do. They don’t tell the story of who, how, or why it matters. Therefore, they don’t move the donor.

You can do better.

Photos Used for High-Quality Storytelling

SCC appeal photo

Here’s what nonprofits did to use photos really well in their appeal letters.

  1. Featured one, at most two, people in each picture.
  2. Showed them doing something–not just head shots.
  3. Focused on the same person whose story the nonprofit told in the text of the letter.
  4. Reinforced the message about the problem.
  5. Reinforced the message about the urgency.
  6. Made an emotional connection between the person in the photo and the donor viewing the photo and reading the letter.

I’m happy to show you an example from a local organization my wife and I support, Somerville Community Corporation. The photo above is actually from a special end-of-year mailing to ask for donations of $1,000 or more to the Social Equity Campaign, which multiplies the value of each donation through a special tax credit in Massachusetts.

Notice how Somerville Community Corporation poses a question (“Why invest in our community?”) and uses BOTH the text and the photo to answer it.

Notice how SCC picked one of the problems it is asking you to solve–worker training–and with the photo, gave you hope you could do something about it right away.

Notice how SCC managed to express the idea of diversity with only two people in the photo. (They could have added more people, or more photos…but they knew you would care more about these people than about a crowd.)

Before you write your next fundraising appeal, think about how you  use photos. Chances are, you can learn from this example…and do better!

 

 

 

TY Thursday: Nonprofits, Time to do a Thank-a-thon?

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gratitudeIt’s vital for your nonprofit to thank donors, and one of the very best ways to do it is to pick up the phone and call them. If you’re lucky, though, you have so many donors that the Executive Director and Development Director both put together would consider thanking donors a full-time job! What’s the solution? Hold a thank-a-thon.

What’s a Thank-a-thon?

A thank-a-thon is like a phone-a-thon. Only instead of dialing for dollars, you have a room full of people calling people who have already given…just to say thanks.

Abigail Harmon gives us the portrait of the classic thank-a-thon.

Armed with a list of donors – big and small alike – and a script, each board member makes calls to thank donors for their support over the past year…Historically, a phone bank was required so that everyone could sit in a room and make the calls…but it is often more feasible to have board members bring their cell phones and chargers (just in case) to a house where they can sit around and make the calls.

You will need a staff member to hand out the lists and scripts and answer questions that might arise. And you will want to provide some food and drink. Your callers will be friendlier if they are fed!

4 Reasons a Thank-a-thon is Worth It

Why would you spend the time and energy of your board members and volunteers for an activity that’s not going to raise any more money right away?

  1. To raise more money next year. If a donor gave you money in 2017 and you send a perfunctory thank-you letter, the chances you’ll see another gift in 2018 are less than 30%. You can double that with a hearty thank-you in a real human voice.
  2. To make your Board members proud. Do you have a Board member who says, “I’ll do anything for this organization–except ask for money”? Turn their fear of asking into their joy at saying thank-you to a person who cares about the same organization they do!
  3. To give non-Board members a way to get more involved. There is no rule that says only directors of the organization can call and say thanks. A call from a fellow donor may be equally meaningful…both to the caller and donor on the other end.
  4. To make it fun. Yes, you can farm out the calls for people to do on their own time, in the privacy of their own homes. But there’s a certain infectious energy that spreads around the room during a thank-a-thon. Try it and see!

Fundraising Tuesday: Remember the Postscript. Donors Do!

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Surprising but true: without a good postscript, your donors may not even read your nonprofit’s appeal letter. And that would be a shame.

How a Postscript Says “Read This Letter”

Postscript to fundraising appeal

The p.s. is the second thing donors read–after their own name!

Very few of us read a letter from top to bottom, in order.

  • First, the envelope helps us decide whether to open and read it at all.
  • Second, the salutation draws us in or pushes us away.
  • Images, captions, and subheadings all catch the eye before we ever look at the main text of the letter.

Above all (or below all!), the postscript grabs the reader’s attention. Direct mail expert Gary Henricksen quotes research that tells us:

Over 90 percent of readers read the PS before the letter. It is the first paragraph, not the last. Share on X

Postscripts Raise Money

It stands to reason that the p.s.helps your nonprofit get more donations. After all, how many donors are going to pitch your letter in the recycling bin and still give you money? But don’t take it from me. Ask the experts.

Decades of eye motion studies have shown that the first two things readers look at when opening a letter are their name and the postscript. –John Killoran

A donor reading a P.S. is a donor looking for information. And that’s your opportunity. –Alan Sharpe

In direct mail (and sometimes email), the PS is the most important thing you write. It’s one of the most-read parts of your message. It’s worth spending some time on to make it really sing. –Jeff Brooks

The P.S. gives you a chance to reinforce your message and include a strong call to action right above the reply device. –Emily Hunsaker

So craft a postscript with

  1. What you’re asking people to give to
  2. How much you’re asking them to give
  3. And a deadline for when that gift should be given –Marc Pitman

Remember:  A good PS offers some or all of the following:

  • A sense of urgency
  • Appreciation
  • A tangible way to help
  • A specific amount of money to give
  • An ask for monthly giving
  • A limited time opportunity –Rebecca H. Davis

Why Aren’t You Writing a Postscript?

There are all these reasons for including a p.s. with every fundraising letter, and very few reasons not to.  So I’m glad to say that out of the 72 nonprofit organizations who sent me a year-end appeal, most of them (39) included a postscript.

Some of them chose to reinforce the message “Give now.” They said just that, “Give today”–or they gave me a link so I could donate online, immediately, instead of putting their letter into the pile.

Some of them gave me a tangible reason to give. They offered to send me a premium if I made my donation before the end of the year, or they appealed to my generosity by telling me my gift would be matched two or three times.

Some told me I would make a difference. Some asked me, “Do you want to accomplish” some amazing result–and urged me to answer “Yes!”

You can find samples of great postscripts just by clicking the links in this post. If you feel creative, great: write your own! But being original is not important. Capturing the reader’s attention while you have it, is.

P.S. Don’t Miss Your Chance to Get More Gifts!

If you are like the 33 other nonprofits who asked me for money at the end of 2017–the one who didn’t include a postscript–you may have missed your chance.

“May have.” Perhaps you’ve done the research, and your particular set of donors is unlike the vast majority. Maybe they read every word. Maybe they find a p.s. annoying. And maybe they are so loyal that they will give to your organization no matter what you send.

I wouldn’t bet on it.

And that is what you’re doing if you don’t include a P.S. in your fundraising appeal. You are betting the financial success of your organization on the hope that your donors are so special, you don’t have to do what works.

And if you’re wrong, some other organization is getting the donations you were hoping the donor would send to you.

Why not try it out? Make this year the year you start using postscripts to get more donations.

 

This is the second of a series about improving your nonprofit’s fundraising appeal letters that will appear on Communicate! throughout the next two months. Next up: the photo.

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