In honor of my niece Grace’s, first day of kindergarten here is an updated version of a previous post. Two years ago when my nephew Stuart and niece Grace moved away from Minnesota to Florida, I was determined to keep in touch with them. I didn’t want them to forget “Auntie Lori”. They continue to teach me things about staying in touch with people who matter. Directly from Stuart and Grace ages 8 and 5: Here are a few great tips for important people we want to stay connected to, especially our donors and volunteers.

• 1. Don’t send too many emails. I’ve been told by Stuart that he has “too much to do” to read an email message every day. About one a month is enough for him.
• 2. As often as possible, include a photo in my email. Not surprisingly, Grace, age 5, will barely read or look at an email that doesn’t have a photo in it. When it has a photo of something interesting she’s all over it and in fact wants to share it with others.
• 3. Only use the telephone for special meaningful conversations. Both Stuart and Grace have been known to say, “Auntie, Why are you calling? You know I don’t like to talk on the telephone.” From their honest comments I learned to utilize phone calls for important days when there is something they have to share OR when I have a short exciting bit of information to tell them.
• 4. Send snail mail sometimes, especially if it’s personalized. The kids get very excited when they check the mail box and there is a fun envelope or package addressed just to them. Come to think about it, so do I.
• 5. In-person visits are the very best way to communicate. A few times I year I make the trip to Florida to visit with Grace and her brother Stuart. The few weeks before the visit we talk about what we’ll do together, plan for the trip in our phone and email communication and we make it an interesting visit when we get together.
• 6. Overall, don’t try to communicate too often and keep it fun. Too much only becomes something to endure because “Mom said so”. Less is more and can cause a yearning for more information when the previous call, email or letter was so interesting.

Despite a few mishaps and too frequent communication on my part, I am happy to say, Grace and Stuart and I are as connected as ever. I’m grateful for them taking time to teach me these lessons. I recommend you keep them in mind with your important people.

Would it surprise you to learn that emotional campaigns are more effective than those based solely on rational/factual information?

Graph source: Donor Power Blog August 5, 2009

It does NOT surprise me. I teach this fact in all of the workshops and breakout sessions I deliver. We have fun with this in the Sharing Your Mission Powerfully segments of my Sustainable Strategies fundraising sessions because we work on telling stories about your mission.

One of the barriers for most people is they think the emotional example has to be sad or be about someone we feel sorry for. I disagree.

The key is to identify a variety of emotions you have to share. Check out this list and ask yourself which of these emotions could we convey today with a story or quote or photo?
Belonging Confident Excited Funny Grateful

Funny Hopeful Peaceful Pride Angry

Embarrassed Vulnerable Safe

Notice these are not all negative emotions. The focus can be a tiny moment in the week when you heard a story or a quote from an insider, like a parent of a client or the caregiver or even the client themselves that conveys one of these emotions. What you are seeking is an interaction that causes the reader or listener to connect to something deep inside.

Here’s an example of a short email message sent out to volunteers who are helping with an upcoming fundraising event:

Scurry, hurry, rush, rush, rush. We don’t want to miss the bus, bus, bus. Lions and tigers and bears OH MY!! This is why we’re on the fly!

That’s what the kids were screaming last Thursday morning as they were anxiously waiting for the Head Start bus to pick them up. The bus normally comes around 8:20am, but the kids were all ready and waiting at the front door by 8:00am sharp! They just didn’t want to miss the field trip to the Como Zoo! For some of the children, this was going to be their first trip to a Zoo ever and they were jumping with anticipation!

It was fun to be here that morning and great to hear the stories afterwards of all the animals they saw, creatures they held and butterfly’s that landed on them at the Butterfly tent.

This is how life should be for a child. Homeless or not. There are 3,000 children in Minnesota tonight.

You’ve got lots of choices about where to share emotion: fundraising campaigns, email messages, newsletters, on the website, one-on-one meetings and anywhere you are sharing communication about your organization. Keep these questions in mind as you shift your communication to include more emotion:

• Include emotion that honors your clients.
• Include emotion and still engage the more linear thinkers who want some facts or statistics.
• Include emotion that is positive, hopeful, funny. It does not have to be pity or sadness.

Send me an example of your emotionally connecting communication. I love to see what works!

Fundraising success comes from effective communication. I’ve watched as one organization after another, struggles with engaging their supporters by using communication that misses the mark.

Last week I met with Ann, from a local mid-size organization serving youth. We talked about their eNewsletter and whether or not it was effective. She said, “Our click-through rates are low and I know we are missing something.” So we took a look at some of the past articles.

What we found is all of the articles were either thanking others for support or inviting readers to an event. Nowhere was there a message about why the dollars raised at the event were important, or why the youth needed that specific event.

In the articles that were inviting readers to attend something it was not clear what would happen for the youth if people DID attend. Example: When you join us at this event we will raise $15,000 — Enough to allow 300 low-income, troubled youth ages 6 – 16 to feel safe and have the fun a child deserves to have.

Here’s one article headline example:
Rockland Bank Sponsors Youth Day

The article went on to tell readers about all the fun that was had at a recent youth event. The event was in the past so I couldn’t attend but the newsletter used a good amount of space to acknowledge the sponsor. And I wasn’t clear WHY the youth needed this event in their lives.

Here’s what I suggest your headlines and articles do:

1. Have a subject line or headline that causes me to want more information. The subject line for the eNewsletter is as important at the titles of each article.
2. Tell readers something about the outcome of what you do.
3. Briefly explain why your organization needed the money and let people know if you need more for future programs, youth days or whatever was sponsored.
4. In the copy of the article give acknowledgement to the sponsor by bolding their name a couple of times. Frankly, the sponsor doesn’t often care if they are listed in the headline. They want to know their work mattered and made a difference.

Here is a re-write of the headline with short article that conveys some “meat” about why this event was held:

$10,000 Allows Youth Experience of a Lifetime.

For six hours, 75 troubled youth, ages 6 to 16, got to forget their worries and play like children are made to at the Rockland Bank Youth Day on June 16. Surrounded by caring adults, youth like Dashawn (include photo) were able to laugh, run, cook and eat two healthy meals and create memories that will last a lifetime. For a few hours these youth were free from peer pressure and the struggles of living in low-income neighborhoods.

In addition to $10,000, Rockland Bank provided 80 volunteers who participated in the amazing Youth Day experience.  Each volunteer was paired one-on-one with a youth to teach them a new skill or simply mentor them for a few hours.

This year we have the resources to hold 3 of 6 planned Youth Days. More than 500 youth who would normally participate in these fun, safe day-long events will not be able to due to funding challenges this year. There is still time to schedule the remaining 3 Youth Days if your company is interested. Please contact Ann@Youthdayevents.org for more information.

Our sincere thanks to Rockland Bank!   

Remember to cause readers to learn something in your communication.

Focus on the outcome of what your organization does rather than the logistics of how great the event was or will be and you will likely create better understanding about what is needed and MORE participation.

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