Making the most of your fundraising appeal
3 April 2022
David Green

How you can improve your message

Messaging is a vital part of charity communications, but what works best?


The excellent NCVO publication Telling A Better Story About Charities offers some useful advice on how to improve your appeal to the public. It is based on their own research into public attitudes towards charities; and among other key points, says that charities should:


  • Be transparent in a proactive, accessible way.
  • Demonstrate collective impact.
  • Not rely solely on facts and figures to make your case.
  • Use simple, personable language, not ‘management speak’.


Your choice of images

Hard-hitting images can raise awareness and evoke concern, but they should be balanced with images showing the positive impact that donations are having. In other words, don’t just show the problem, show the solution too. Also, distressing images that could be seen by children are likely to raise concerns with some audiences.


The narrative

This is the story you want to tell, about what you are doing or about a particular issue. An agreed narrative provides clarity and consistency across all external communications. Your aims should be to raise awareness, invoke concern, and encourage engagement, hopefully then leading to action from your audience (e.g. giving a donation).


Resonate

If you want people to act, then acknowledge how vital they are to your work. Show that your audience matters (e.g. “Because of you…”). Put messages in terms that speak directly to your audience. Be interesting, be inclusive, and address their concerns (e.g. how they can make a difference) rather than making the message about your particular organisation.


Also, repetitive calls for donations can be off-putting. Giving to charity is not the only way that people can help; and NCVO found that it is important to reference the variety of other ways that people can lend their support.


Message types

The messages you choose in order to bring the story to life is likely to vary. Consider the following:


  • Personal stories (beneficiaries, fundraisers, donors).
  • How public support is helping.
  • Good news related to your sector.
  • Talking about and demonstrating the impact of your work.
  • Tips and guides (e.g. a skin cancer charity might want to provide information about staying safe in the sun).
  • Quotes from beneficiaries.


As mentioned above, you need to resonate with your audience. So look to build trust. Be consistent and empathetic; and use every-day language that people will understand.


Fewer words, better sense

You can convey an awful lot of your message with carefully selected images (photos, videos, infographics). So avoid lengthy messages. Keep it short and simple; and avoid cluttering posters, social media posts or web pages. Also, avoid over-using statistics. Facts and figures are important, but too many at once can put people off.


Be engaging

Your campaign, whether online or not, needs interested people in order to succeed. So involve your audience. Raise questions, respond to comments, encourage involvement. Also, seek out ideas, information and creativity. Finally, ask your volunteers to help with fundraising activities and challenges (e.g. to enter a sponsored run), and online to share your social media posts and blog articles.


Integrity

Finally, demonstrate integrity. Good governance and regulatory compliance are essential, but charities also need public trust. This only comes through transparency and good communication. The fundraising message is a key part of this process.



Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

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