A Journey Inside the Brain of your Donors and Clients

Leah Eustace, CFRE

Principal and Chief Idea Goddess @LeahEustace

Pepsi vs Coke

The power of persuasion

Emotion drives action

Engage the emotions

Giving makes people happy

…and it makes them live longer

So, giving people the opportunity to invest

in your organization is, in reality, doing them a favour

Moral identity matters

“Thanks for calling and becoming a kind and caring WFIU

donor (or client)”

Those two words increased giving by 21% amongst female donors (no impact on males).

And so does… texture?

Humans experience psychic numbing

“If I think of the mass I will never act, if I think of the one, I will”

We really don’t make any sense

Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 20,000 lives and save 10,000.

or

Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 290,000 lives and save 20,000.

Read more about this study

The case of Karen Klein

Stories are powerful

Stats depress response

versus

Our brains change as we age

Design is really important

Photos matter

And so does readability

If your fundraising messages has a grade level higher than 7, it will draw a lower response than one written at 7 or less. It’s a tested reality.

Obama is really good at this

MRI’s of Donor Brains

Speaking of planned giving

Most people have no idea what those words mean

95% of planned gifts

are bequests Read about the research here

Why, not how

Telling someone your goal makes it less likely to happen

Be cautious about raising awareness

Beware of what people say

In summary

• Use persuasion

• Focus on emotion

• Moral identity matters

• Use stories, not stats

• Don’t forget design & readability

• Stop using “planned” and “legacy” giving

• Why, not how

• Beware of stating your goal and/or raising awareness

• Actions speak louder than words

Leah Eustace, CFRE Chief Idea Goddess, Good Works

@LeahEustace leah@goodworksco.ca