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If
you'd like to read more about the study, Getting
Emotional Is a Rational Decision, check out this
article. It might seem more appealing to read if you were
going to perform brain surgery in the near future, so here
are a few highlights from the article:
- During
a brain scan, volunteers were given a set of decisions to
make. In the first set they were instructed to answer "based
on how it would affect them personally. During the second
scan, they were given similar choices, but asked to base
their decisions solely on cost, not as though the decision
would affect their lives. The scans showed there was significantly
more activity in the frontal lobe when they were making
the personal decisions than when they made choices based
on cost."
- The
study found that "…the part of the brain typically
associated with emotions - was highly active even when volunteers
were making what typically would be considered rational
decisions" such as putting on a seat belt. Understanding
that one could be hurt in a crash makes putting on a seat
belt an emotional decision instead of a rational one.
So
how does this translate to fundraising you ask? This knowledge
has incredible relevance when we begin to think about how
donors make giving decisions. I realize that it's not rocket
science - fundraisers have always known that much of what
contributes to a donor's decision to give is his or her emotional
connection to the story shared by you and your organization.
What this study emphasizes is that "cost" or in
the case of donations, the "amount" is not always
the most important consideration when someone chooses to give.
It's their personal connection, their emotional reaction,
to the story you share that encourages the decision to give.
Most
fundraisers will agree that personal interactions are more
successful at achieving a gift than a letter. The difficulty
in getting personal or appealing to emotions in a letter is
that you don't have the advantage of being face to face with
the person and you aren't able to dialogue or respond immediately
to their questions or reactions. This is the clear reason
that development officers carefully plan their personal visits
with potential major donors. But if you can't visit every
donor, how do you tell the story to more people without sacrificing
the emotional draw that a personal interaction can stimulate?
If
you were writing a letter we would all agree that content
- otherwise know as "what you write" - is key! If
you were sending a dynamic e-mail communication I would tell
you the same thing. If there's a story to tell that can be
shared on paper, imagine how powerful that story could be
if it were shared electronically with the capability to show
graphics, photos or even animation and music. The more senses
involved the more complete your story, and each of these things
can be achieved with e-mail!
If
those bells and whistles are more than you can imagine attempting
through e-mail, begin by focusing on the actual text of your
messages. Consider how you can write to appeal to the reader's
emotions. "It's the imperative for writing persuasive
copy that creates powerful, evocative mental imagery in your
prospects' minds - the sort of imagery that allows them to
put themselves center stage" (from the article, The
Power of Emotion). If you aren't a good writer you may
want to hire a copywriter who can share your story most effectively
on your web site and in your e-mail messages. If your technology
staff writes the copy for your e-mail and web site communications
you should probably re-assign that task to a development officer
or marketing staff person.
Read
more about how to write for online readers at Grokdotcom.
This is a great web site with a for-profit-focus on the topic
of strategic online conversion and is written for people in
sales and marketing, but much of what you will read translates
easily to donor cultivation and fundraising. I recommend the
following articles: Buying
is Not a Rational Decision, Think
Active! and, Pump
Up Your Verbs.
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