“The most poorly written mail I get is from people who want my money.”
                      –January 26 post signed by “Disgruntled Writer”

The lesson I’ve learned in 40 years as a copywriter is this:  Even if only 50% of your clients can read, you can be absolutely certain that 100% of them are convinced they can write!

No wonder that Nancy Schwartz’ recent survey of 900 nonprofit leaders found that “86% of the organizations characterize their messages as difficult to remember …that nonprofit messages don’t connect strongly…and that inconsistency reigns, leaving confusion and annoyance in its path.”

Knowing “Who” to approach is clearly the most essential ingredient in the fundraiser’s recipe for success.  But knowing “What”—what message, what positioning, what offer, what relationship hot buttons, and even what adjectives to employ—can make the difference between just so-so and terrific results.

The biggest mistake – bar none – that executive directors, boards, program specialists and, yes, most fundraisers make is thinking that all that policy ho-ha, detailed technical descriptions of the most boring sort, and self-congratulatory organizational chest-beating is important. NOT!

While I’m grateful that clients trusted and rewarded my wordsmithing enough to put the kids through college, I have no illusions that they hung on my every word. Not when I think of all the editing-by-committee sessions, all the “you really don’t understand the substantive nature of our work” condescension, not to mention the near-daily schoolmarmish reminder that ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which we will not put.

In today’s world, the once-honored copywriter now plays a definite second or even third fiddle to the exalted data analyst. I say “exalted” because why else would organizations spend millions on expert segmentation and modeling advice to find the “Who” and then virtually ignore the essential “What” of messaging?

This is what I find frightening: the nonprofit community spends millions of dollars testing lists, enhancing data, and modeling and analysis to the point of paralysis. Yet we invest mere nickels and dimes (if that!) on research involving messaging, the strengths and weaknesses of the case for support, and in understanding the all important factors that make up donor satisfaction and loyalty.

To paraphrase Tom’s and my mentor, John W. Gardner, the founder of Common Cause:   The nonprofit which ignores investment and research in messaging and positioning, while engaging in analysis to the point of paralysis, will have neither good messaging nor useful analysis: neither its appeals nor its segments will produce winning results.

So ask yourself: When’s the last time our organization did any serious research around “What” we are saying to our donors and prospects? What significant steps are we taking to determine the most effective messages and positioning for our campaigns and programs? Do we really understand the most important issues, concerns and trust factors among our donors and prospects? Do we know which giving opportunities appeal to different types of donors and why?

So many questions.  So few answers.  In future posts we’ll share with you some of the effective new research tools we’ve developed over at DonorTrends.

Even if your message and positioning research budget is non-existent, there’s plenty of good, proven advice out there from veteran message mavens. 

For those suffering from organization-centric messaging there’s no more effective and simple advice than that of Jerry Huntsinger:

…”Sell the tears, not the statistics.
… Sell the sickness, not the cure.
… Sell the problem, not the mission statement.”

For those frightened or puzzled by adjectives read “Adjectives 101” … a short, to the point piece by Deborah Block and Paul Karps appearing in the latest issue of Mal Warwick’s Newsletter.

For those who want to put some real method in your direct mail testing, the “Secrets of Direct Mail Testing” is an inexpensive must-have guide.

Finally… for a real, live, recent case statement on the importance of properly tying the “Who” to the “What”, learn about the successful second gift strategy of the National Wildlife Federation in yesterday’s Fundraising Success Magazine.

Now that you’re on the track of the right audience (Who), the right message and offer (What), tomorrow I’ll explore the right time (When) and tell you why I think it’s time to mount the barricades.

Roger

P.S. Have I whetted your appetite for copywriting? Try it yourself. Here’s a pitch (one we pass along tongue in cheek) for the Secrets of Writing for the Fundraising Market program … for only $399 they guarantee your satisfaction (if not your success)!