The Little Words Mean the Most

Chapter 40: The first few seconds matter most

 

In his book Emotionomics, according to Dan Hill: "We have gut reactions in 3 seconds or less." Dan's a scientist.

         I interpret his comment to mean that my donor prospects will be either ON my side or NOT on my side almost instantly. They will lean towards saying YES to a gift — or lean away from saying YES to a gift — within seconds.

         Since I encountered it, I've based all my donor communications work on Dan Hill's research. I can report that I consistently achieve good-to-great fundraising results — not because I have special talents (there are no magic wands); but because I obey and act on Dan Hill's discovery.

         In truth? I despise opinions ... my own as well as my client's. Opinions have no place in fundraising. Fundraising is serious business. It's about mission and the money needed to sustain and enlarge that mission.

 

 

Emotions 101 (from the 2nd ed. of the CASE book)

 

You're not a fundraiser. You're a "hope-raiser."

         You, my dear fundraiser, are a trustworthy merchant of hope.

         Feel prouder yet? You really should! Because your target audience is skeptical; by nature. You "sell" to might-be, wanna-be, possibly, not-sure people ... i.e., human hearts who are (sometimes, at intervals) kind, caring, compassionate, concerned, understanding, loving, courageous, trusting, dedicated, justice-minded, visionary, and steadfast corruption-haters (to kind-of quote Lisa Sargent).

         It's not easy. Let's make that abundantly clear.

         There is no easy fundraising ... despite a yearly parade of shiny new technological helpmates.

         Feeling prouder yet? You should! This is hard. You're a warrior.

         You "sell" to donors the credible expectation that they can change the world for the better (a bit at a time, maybe; through that monthly $10 gift) ... if they will only trust you enough to join your merry band of troublemakers for a spell.