1/29/2016
“Loverizing”
The Lucrative Difference a Few WellChosen Words Will Make in Your Donor
Communications
Speaker: TOM AHERN
“...our online donations
doubled this year!”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“Our best year ever.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“366% uptick in giving.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“In just four years, our legacy
society doubled in size. Last
year, we had 33 sign up.”
Average bequest for this charity: $1 million
Marketing budget at launch: $100K
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“... your blogs & advice
have helped us raise more
than $9 million since I
started following you!”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“It is official … thanks to your
writing you have helped the
foundations at Sharp
HealthCare receive over 10,000
Doctors’ Day gifts. A mere
'thanks' doesn’t come close....”
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Giving increased
75% over
previous letter
Direct Mail | © 2015 Tom Ahern |
www.AHERNCOMM.com
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Direct Mail | © 2015 Tom Ahern |
www.AHERNCOMM.com
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Most important direct mail secret to success EVER!!!!!!!!!
Successful appeals are NOT
about how wonderful your
organization is.
Successful appeals ARE about
how wonderful the donor is.
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“Loverizing”
is a synonym for
“donor-centered.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“Donor”
is a synonym for
“customer.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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Fundraising’s job is to
keep that customer
happy.
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“Kiss 8 out of 10 goodbye.”
~ Tom Belford, commenting on the average (and
deplorable) 2014 “first-time donor” retention rate.
Source: Fundraising Effectiveness Project, with 8,000
responding charities.
GNOF ALL | © 2015 Tom Ahern
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The story’s about the donor
...every time someone donates to a good cause, they're buying
a story, a story that's worth more than the amount they
donated.
It might be the story of doing the right thing, or fitting in, or
pleasing a friend or honoring a memory, but the story has
value. For many, it's the story of what it means to be part of a
community.
Source: Seth Godin
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“We support a charity or a
soccer team or a perfume
because it gives us a chance to
love something about
ourselves.”
Source: Seth Godin
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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Source: Mark Phillips, Bluefrog
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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“Are you hogging the
credit or giving it to
your donors?”
Corporate communications are about how
great the organization is. Favorite pronoun:
we
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1/29/2016
Donor communications are about how great
the donor is. Favorite pronoun:
you
Thanks to you
and other generous donors like you,
we were able to turn...
Donors: Why
they’re just not
that into you
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT
THE
DONOR
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
ABOUT US
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A lot of charities could
be mistaken for
egotistical maniacs.
Jen Shang, UK, “world’s first
philanthropic psychologist,”
NY Times. Author and lecturer.
“Loverizing”
means making
the donor the
hero of the
story.
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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KIND
CARING
COMPASSIONATE
HELPFUL
FRIENDLY
FAIR
HARD-WORKING
GENEROUS
HONEST
Source: psychologist Jen Shang, quoted in the NY Times 2012
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Donor-NEGLIGENT:
“We did this. We did
that. We were amazing.
Oh, by the way, thanks.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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Donor-CENTRIC:
“With your help, all
these amazing things
happened. And without
your help, they won’t.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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Say it loud. Say it proud.
“We need you!”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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The donor is a leading
character.
“And without you, it would not
be possible.”
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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© 2015 Tom Ahern
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BY THE WAY...
“It is the fundraiser’s job,
your only job, to make
the supporter feel good
about supporting your
charity. You have to
love your donors. The
money will follow.”
Stephen Pidgeon
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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Give the donor an
important job to do.
Donating is an important job.
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Dear Jane,
Your time's valuable. So let me make my point.
>> Gifts of every size, from people like you, are why a nonprofit
community hospital like Sharp Chula Vista remains strong. <<
That's my simple message: the hospital needs your help.
My name is Troy Stork. I'm a board member at Sharp HealthCare.
I'm also, as it happens, a long-time patient at Sharp Chula Vista.
[etc.]
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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If there are no problems
to solve, donors have
nothing to do.
© 2015 Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com
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Source: Jeff Brooks reporting on AMA Journal of Marketing Research, 2011
© 2015 Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com
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“Negative emotions are
linked to survival – and
are much stronger.”
The amygdala
Source: NYU neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, in Emotionomics
© 2015 Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com
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© 2015 Tom Ahern
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© 2015 Tom Ahern
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The donor is IN
the story frame
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Donor comms 101
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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The virtuous circle...
Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
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The part the charity The part the donor
cares about
cares about
The virtuous circle...
Appeals, thanks, & newsletters work together.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
You ask. You thank. You report.
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Your thanks and your
newsletters are your HUG!
Donor Newsltr-Kivi-1 | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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The virtuous circle...
You ask (and flatter).
You thank (and flatter).
You report (and flatter).
You cannot flatter too much.
© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015
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“Even when people perceive
that flattery is insincere, that
flattery can still leave a
lasting and positive
impression of the flatterer.”
Source: Neuromarketing blog
© Tom Ahern | © 1249-2015
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“Donors are staggeringly
ignorant of the causes they
support.”
-Richard Radcliffe
DONORS MAY BE IGNORANT, but what they
DO have in abundance are their own
personal values, interests, beliefs,
connections, experiences, upbringing, lost
loves, secret passions, regrets, fears,
angers, hopes, and built-in empathy
[except for psychopaths]...
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1/29/2016
You’re in my home:
“Why are you here?”
Bad guest or good?
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To make ME
feel good!!!
Pleased!
Wanted!
Happy!
Surprised!
Proud of myself!
Important!
Needed!
Entertained!
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From you....
They want to feel good.
They want to feel loved.
They want to feel smart.
They want to feel needed.
They want to feel important.
They want to belong.
They want to see their values in
action.
They want to win!
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1/29/2016
“What is our gift
of joy?”
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The gift of joy
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The gift of joy
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The gift of joy
Editor: Michelle Brinson
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This newsletter
raises more than $2
million yearly.
© 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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You build $ucce$$ful
donor communication$
BACKWARD$ from
your target audience.
Planning | © 2015 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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Gov’t grants
Foundations
Individuals
Meet criteria
Show promise
Win a fight
Specialists
Specialists
Generalists
Rational
Aspirational
Emotional
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Welcome to
a family
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“Synthetic family”
Source: Russell James III, 2014
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1/29/2016
Editor: Sally Kirby Hartman
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Why do we give?
“Because people like us
do things like that.”
Source: Seth Godin
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Direct mail secret to success.......
You’re trying for “mental nods.”
Direct Mail | © 2010 Tom Ahern | www.aherncomm.com
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1/29/2016
Authority
figure
A. Lee Edgar, M.D.
Mental nod
If you believe in
Hospice as much as I
do, open immediately....
What should I
do next?
Direct Mail | © 2014 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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To whom art thou
talking?
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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And on the direct mail side:
“A young donor is 60.”
Jeff Brooks
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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1/29/2016
Donors by age (percentage)
4%
11%
<35
35-44
46%
17%
45-54
55-64
65+
22%
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© 2015 Tom Ahern
Average donor age at Sharp?
75
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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What happens
when you switch?
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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© 2013 Tom Ahern
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Angel Aloma, ED of Food for the Poor, a billion dollar charity, to Tom Ahern:
“…much of what we are doing now in regards
to donor centricity was inspired by your
wonderful presentation.... I am convinced that
the reason why we have grown in the last
years of tough economic conditions in the
country is because of that wonderful switch
that you inspired [in our communications].”
© 2010-13 Tom AHERN | www.AHERNCOMM.com
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WHICH ONE WON?
CORPORATE communications
How great the ORGANIZATION is = $4,470 in gifts
DONOR communications
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1/29/2016
1,000%
How great the ORGANIZATION is = $4,470 in gifts
IMPROVEMENT!!!
How great the DONOR is = $49,600 in gifts
My
I subscribe!
free
how-to
e-newsletter…
www.aherncomm.com
© 2015 Tom Ahern
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