The Little Words Mean the Most

I have mermaids in my family tree

 

true

 

true

 

sad story, that

 

Not caught in trees: breeding me and my family, down the branches

 

A team works up a case for Ukranian kids' cancer relief in the midst of war

 

[after praising a great headline...]

 

As I say ad nauseam (to my ears, too), that same headline is missing the most important word in sales: you. Without "you," it's a statement. WITH "you," it gets personal and emotional. Simply extending the headline with a short, next sentence. Or with a deck (subhead).

 

Will you join Veronika's new battle?

Will you tell Putin to get his hands off these cancer kids? [turn Putin into a pedophile as well as a mass-murdering Hitler sans mustache]

Will you [whatever]?

 

To Jeff, a co-conspirator who asked me to write a guest blog post...

 

No need to talk me into. At your service, Jeff. Give me a deadline.

 

+ PS: Whatever I write, feel free to edit. On my personal Mt. Rushmore are those editors who made my crap better.

 

"The D seems off for that context."

 

[He's talking about the ancient AIDA formula in advertising.]

 

Advertising IS different. You hope to drive response; that's ALL that matters. The cash register must RING. That's why you're spending money to make money.

 

In the nonprofit world these days, though, being accused as "transactional" raises eyebrows.

 

Being transactional was the entire point, when I worked commercial: you committed your money, then you got something in return. Give, get.

 

I think nonprofit marketers (i.e., fundraisers) have been bullied into shunning this basic trade-craft. Weak bosses, self-righteous program staffers, ignorant board chairs all play a role.

 

It's one of the oldest delusions in fundraising: entitlement. "We don't have to do shit. You just SHOULD give us your money ... because we ARE that worthy!"

 

------

 

No longer ... for at least 50 years?

 

The reasons WHY someone's heart gives to your charity mission are personal. Not to be trifled with.

 

{deleted: a rant about today's New Puritans}

 

And so ... what's the transaction ... what then do I GET, nonprofit donor ... in exchange? (Because neuroscience says "reciprocity" matters, in human interactions.)

 

Is your best response a glib, AI-derived, soulless thanking me for my online gift?

 

------

 

Back to Jeff: I didn't mean that AIDA was FULLY appropriate.

 

I meant only that a grounding in AIDA changes your thinking. Donor newsletters aren't entirely passive; they can also trigger action. And based on our Zoomer, the newsletter under consideration is apparently NOT triggering action. And until it DOES trigger action, keep experimenting.

 

love cakes and the season for lobster rolls now arrives...

 

 

Oh, crap. I have to pay attention, right?

 

 

Thinking not stinking...

 

 

Had my mind sunk into the North American slave trade and the beloved university that brewed me and generations of the Ivy League on whips and lashes. I benefited. It never occurred to me to protest.

 

 

I hope you'll attend.

 

OK, getting it together. Truly. Trust me. Trust you more than me. (Who are you, again?) Shite, stumble: The most important thing I had to do this coming week was water my new meadow, so Julie Andrews could sing across it. I have 2 gardeners. That's what Sam said: I have a meadow. She established the meadow for Julie Andrews; & Sam is not backing down. I disconnected the hose.

 

Got it, though; from you. Past time for a promo ... will do ...

 

this may require some tending

 

Just TOLD OFF the Romanian Fundraising conference why I am NOT their best choice as a plenary speaker (honestly, I am trying to help them).

 

Patience. We get there????????

 

tom

 

 

 

To Andrew ... who now knows more than I do about donor newsletters ... oh, about that approval committee you're saddled with

 

dear Andrew...

I knew none of this ... not at this level ... not this well quantified [he'd listed 5 criteria for success]. THANK YOU! ¶ We try stuff. Then we get one thing figured out maybe. Then we try something else. As I've said, it takes about 4 quarterly issues to get the mood right. ¶ The first thing we try to kill is internal committee review; but that's before we even sign a contract. A busted, dumb, lazy, "collegial" [universities], top-down ["This doesn't sound like me!"] approval process is the enemy of high-yield donor comms.

 

My witch and I exchange healing stanzas

 

"...determined to save the only life you could save" ... Closing thoughts from a poem by Mary Oliver

 

 

Thought that very same sort of thought today

almost anyway close

 

while hiding from life on the floor in our tub

huddle-hosed by a long hot shower

the closest I am to spa relief

a pilgrim's few feet away

from our once-upon-a-time bed of justice

 

Soaked again and realizing:

I don't have all that much time before

I'm a car on blocks minus tires