Mapping Your Message for Better Donor Communications
Posted on Mon, Jun 21, 2010
'Save the X'; 'Cure X'; 'Excellence in X' are just a few of the tired mission themes that no longer resonate with givers. Today people want you to get off the platitudes and down to where the mission really happens.
The first step is to create a message map. Get out the brainstorming tools: post-it notes; whiteboards; and plenty of caffeine. Take a complete inventory of every single message you have on your website, case statement, annual report, press release, brochure, e-mail and any other communication. You will be surprised at just how many messages there are unless of course you are just getting going and then you might be fortunate enough to have only one. Enjoy it while it lasts because over time you are sure to have mission creep which leads to message creep which leads to a confusing array of often contradictory messages.
This exercise will lead to some organizational, and perhaps personal, soul searching. My suggestion is try to move on to the next step and come back later to deal with the deeper issues. Ultimately you have to because donors are demanding it, but for right now we are trying to create a message map which can link your mission to your TrueGivers results.
The second step: consolidate the messages into logical groups. Here you will find the inevitable duplication, and some contradictions. These groups then need to be categorized using the National Taxonomy code for Exempt Entities (NTEE). This is the same system we use for TrueGivers which means you can quickly link the interests you discovered with your messages.
Using the message map is going to expose any silos you may have within your organization. There may be a donor assigned to one area who actually may respond better to another. This is a big problem for higher education where the degree one receives is often the only determining factor about what one will be solicited for. That is truly a shame, as an engineer who may love the arts is not allowed to support the school of arts because internal politics dictate since he or she graduated from the school of engineering, the assignment for solicitation belongs to the engineering program.
Forcing your donors to give to what you think they should give to is like a restaurant saying you have to have chicken because that was the first thing you ordered years ago. Sounds silly, but to a donor it sounds just as silly because graduation from a particular school, college or program restricts solicitation for support to that area, rather than to an area which may be of more interest. The bottom line is that if they want the lasagna let them have it and everyone will be happier.
Nonprofits don't get off the message hook because they will look at what was initially supported and think that must still be the donor's interest. The reality is donors often give first to a general, or special, appeal at a lower level having not formed a deeper opinion. That general or special appeal may not be the aspect of your mission they are most interested in. In fact, they might not even realize you have a part of your mission which would interest them enough to dig deeper into their wallet.
The last step: that's where a message map and the power of TrueGivers comes into play. Imagine taking your lower level donors and finding the messages that link to their broader interests. That $50 donation can quickly become $1,000 and one day much more when you make the right connection.
Like all great journeys this one begins with a map so start yours today.
David Lawson