So what is it? THE most important thing missing from your stories is your vision for doing MORE.
If I don’t know there’s more to do, I’m not likely to increase my gift or give again.
I believe we can raise money and awareness the hard way or the easy way.
The hard way: Tell me all about your organization, your founder, your building, stats about your programs…yadda, yadda, yadda…and hope I give.
The easy way: Make me feel something about the impact I will have when I make a contribution.
THEN, tell me how much more you could be doing for the person in your mission moment story. And remind me “what it takes” financially to make that happen.
Frankly, I find we make it harder than it has to be to inspire contributions.
Tell the truth about what it takes (dollars and people) to help one person. Even if you don’t have any direct service programs – there are end users of your research or advocacy work. Talk about how my gift will help one of them.
And remember, the very best stories are those that don’t have an ending… YET.
You’ll raise more money when you inspire your community to help change the end of someone’s story.
Download Boring to Brilliant: Finding and Sharing Stories That Cause People To Take Action for a mini step-by-step guide that includes: storytelling criteria for brilliant stories, helpful checklists and and easy to use story writing templates.
Great point and a good reminder to be frank in fundraising. Being specific in your ask really does make a difference.
Thanks for reading, Jason. Being candid is always the best policy. Transparency is what donors want AND it builds trust.
We just had a discussion about this exact thing in our board meeting tonight. It’s great to tell people how we’ll house homeless veterans on our ranch, but it’s ok to have future phases that we’re fundraising for as well. Donors like to know what you’re working toward as much as what you’re doing right now.
Debbie, you are so right!! Donors really like to know what you’re working towards, so they can be of help.
Lori