How emotion outperforms urgency in December appeals

As a nonprofit professional, you have a couple tricks up your sleeve as year end approaches. Everyone’s looking for a deal, and matching gifts or limited time offers are always a way to grab some interest.

But sometimes too much is too much. As the year winds down, it can feel like every other email comes with a subject line beginning with “The clock is ticking…” or “Last chance…” 

We’re not saying deadlines should be taken off the table — your organization likely has a few that really matter. But because of the overuse of countdown clocks and limited offers, today’s donors are far more moved by emotional fundraising appeals.

Nonprofit storytelling that inspires hope and turns the spotlight on changemakers is going to outperform more time-sensitive messaging.

How many things were you supposed to do yesterday?

The world is asking a lot from us these days. My guess is that there may have been an item or two from yesterday’s to-do list that ended up on today’s. And here’s my best guess: some of the things today may end up on tomorrow’s.

And this is absolutely okay. We’re human beings.

But when you open your own email inbox next, how many decisions are you going to need to make? How many will you delete? How many will you snooze? How many will you mark unread and leave staring you down all day? 

And this is exactly why you want to be engaging hearts instead of fears when it comes to your email marketing efforts.

If your email ends up being another task on someone’s to-do list, it’s likely going to get pushed to tomorrow. And what’s even more important, it’s going to leave your donor one email more tired. And you don’t want your mission associated with exhaustion.

When you send an email that lightens their day and feeds them with hope, you’re doing something that a lot of other emails aren’t doing.

Maya Angelou famously said: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

It’s time to write that email

Okay, emotional fundraising appeals can be everywhere. From your website’s homepage to a banner ad, don’t be shy about where you’re putting out good vibes. 

But we also know that email is one of the key channels for nearly every nonprofit, especially as the year comes to a close. So here are a few ideas for that next email you send:

1. Start with a story, not a statistic. Again, don’t take these as absolutes since statistics can be really powerful. But turn the spotlight from a number to a person you know. Tell their story. People are going to connect a whole lot more with that over some math.
2. Use imagery that reflects impact, not urgency. To go along with your message of positivity and hope, use images that tell the same story. Share photos of events, volunteers working, or if you’re able to, the people your mission serves. As fellow human beings, it makes us happy to see other people happy.
3. Use words that make your people feel proud, not pressured. Lots of things went right at your organization this year even if you talked more about challenges during your last meeting. Share the positive things with your community. Together you’ve accomplished a lot. So let your community know that you see what they’ve done!

👀 Prime example: Christian Relief Fund’s “Give Hope. Give Education.” — simple, emotional ad copy that highlights the positive impact a donor can make.

Are your donor engagement strategies working?

At the end of the day, what matters most is the actual dollars that come in to fuel your mission. And that’s why no matter what the email says, the best nonprofit communication campaigns are measured by their impact.

We offered a working thesis in this article: try emotional fundraising appeals over last-minute deadlines. But your audience is different from every other nonprofit’s. All the great ideas in the world don’t matter as much as how your community responds to your messaging.

So now that your email landed in the inbox, are you listening to the reaction?

• CTRs: This is the first thing you can measure when it comes to email subject lines or ad copy. Are people clicking through these messages differently than they were when the copy was more focused on a deadline?
• Conversion rate: We’re going to go out on a limb here and say this is the single most important number — and this number is going to be influenced by your entire email marketing process.
• Time on page: This is an excellent way of measuring engagement with the story. If you have pages on your website that are making time-sensitive requests, then compare these with your new emotional fundraising appeal pages
• Retention: This Harvard Business Review article may be more focused on for-profit companies, but the idea is still true: retention costs a lot less than acquiring. Do you have a good way of measuring who’s a repeat donor? And how does your emotional messaging stack up when it comes to this specific audience?

💡 Pro tip: With a modern nonprofit marketing platform, you can test emotional creative across channels through A/B testing — and see which message moves your audience the most.

FOMO is so 2020

The best year-end campaigns don’t pressure — they inspire. FOMO (fear of missing out) may have been a real thing in the past. But as we grow up, we’re more interested in forming real human connections than chasing something that just won’t last.

In nonprofit storytelling, there isn’t one right way. But we think it will be well worth experimenting with the idea of dropping the deadlines and speaking directly to the heart.

So try a few A/B tests this end of year. And if you aren’t currently on a platform that gives you the freedom to experiment, then schedule a demo with us today. We want your nonprofit marketing efforts to take off this end of year!