Clear communication might be your best tool for raising money.
Recently, Ephraim Gopin shared a funny/not-so-funny post from McSweeney’s.
It was titled: We dare you to figure out what our nonprofit does.
And it nails it.
Do you want to make me really cranky? Use language like what they mock here. Unclear. Full of buzzwords. Slick but meaningless stuff. It might sound good in an imaginary ad firm run by people with great clothes and hair.
Then add slick imagery that soothes the eyes without really saying anything…
I’m not pointing any specific fingers here. But I think it’s a real problem in our sector. (And AI will only make it worse.) It’s an instinct. We avoid what’s difficult. So using fuzzy language and imagery is easier. We don’t need to dig into the reality of our work.
But in the nonprofit world, we’re fact, not fiction.
And for many nonprofits, the mission hurts. People are hungry, without a roof over their heads, sick, or surrounded by violence. Life can be bloody and cruel and it’s up to us to try to heal that, not make it easy to digest.
That’s why you want to be cautious with language from pro-bono corporate marketers and social service workers. Both have different aims. But if you’re writing for fundraising, they’re not yours.
Conceptual writing isn’t for describing our work to donors.
And in social work, there are accepted ways to describe situations and people. These are respectful and that matters. But when they become clinical, or too complex, they can be hard to understand for an outsider. And being understood is everything!
It’s an easy trap to fall into. There’s that insider talk about your particular area of service. And it’s useful inside. But it doesn’t tell your audience – donors and potential donors – what they need to know.
- How, exactly, can I help?
- What will change if I send you money? Who will be better off?
- How can I be sure you can do what you promise you do?
Writing clearly can be harder to do.
That seems wrong, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t simple and easy be the same thing?
But it takes effort. You think about whether everything is easy to understand. Could I say it better?
And as Jeff Brooks points out, there’s another layer here. It’s about more than effective communication. It’s also more ethical. Because complex writing can be a way of keeping some people out.
You don’t want that, do you?
Your job as a fundraiser is clear communication.
Show the situation. Show how someone could help… clearly.
(Easy for me to say, right?)
It’s hard to dig through the inside assumptions you live with about your mission. You know why it makes so much sense. You know why your organization is so needed.
And some missions can’t be explained fully in a sentence or two. They may deal with complex situations. Or have missions like those of arts organizations, where no one is hurting really… just maybe missing some of life’s beauty.
I often say that I think best with my fingers, so I start there. Write down, as simply as you can, what your organization does.
Then try it again, only even more simple. Keep cutting any buzzwords you find. (Go look at the McSweeney’s piece again for examples.) Then challenge yourself to see how your insider understanding is getting in the way.
Keep going until it’s so simple and so immediate that it hits. (You’ll know when you get there. It’s almost a physical reaction: this needs doing!)
What if you’re not raising money?
You still have an obligation to the general public to be straightforward. And as I’ve said before, whether you’re raising money or doing other important work… everyone is part of the same team. If your organization needs money to do its work… then everyone is a fundraiser in some way.
That means everyone in the organization should be able to explain your mission in simple language.
Can you do it?
Photo by Randy ORourke on Unsplash
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