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"What a great resource! I have received a number of similar mailings over the years, and always ended up unsubscribing — mostly because they were too much text. This was short, sweet — and useful! I can't think of someone better qualified to share this kind of advice!"

Josephine Martell
International Fund for Animal Welfare

Giving Back E-Tips

Giving Back — Getting to Know You

Karen GedneyDear Visitor:

When I look at my new Giving Back subscriber list, I’m so pleased. Everyone on it represents the “cream of the crop” in their respective fields. I’m deeply interested in the causes of all the nonprofit organizations currently subscribing — and have a real respect and admiration for all my colleagues who are reading this.

So in the interest of getting to know each other, I’m in the process of signing up for the e-newsletters of all my subscribers’ nonprofit groups, beyond the many I already read. It’s been a real education to view the range of Welcome messages pouring into my inbox — and I will be sure to share my impressions and suggestions for “welcome message optimization” in a future issue.

Meanwhile, I hope you find this week’s tip, The Power of Story, helpful.

The Power of Story

We’ve all read stories in the newspaper that raise our blood pressure … light our imagination on fire … or bring a tear to our eye.

Powerful stories inspire action. When it comes to fundraising, a story that spurs donors to action can lead to a big spike in your donation revenues.

Let me tell you my own story that illustrates this point vividly. My first assignment for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) was a fundraising email about the polar bear. I was handed a stack of extremely academic information. In it, I came across a fact that put a chill down my spine.

Due to global warming, polar bears are drowning — as they are forced to swim ever greater distances to disappearing Arctic ice sheets.

The thought of this happening to the world's strongest swimmers literally haunted me. In my mind, I could envision these magnificent creatures struggling during their arduous swim and finally giving up from exhaustion and sinking into the icy Arctic sea.

Out of that strong visual came the subject line:

Polar Bears Drown: Click to Throw a Lifeline

And the rest is, literally, history. Not only did that email bring in record donations — more than 10 times the usual revenue — it led to one of the most powerful public mobilization campaigns in history, NRDC’s Polar Bear S.O.S. campaign (which I also had the privilege of naming). We then turned the email into a direct mail package that nearly doubled the response rate of the previous control package.

The moral of the story? Don’t just write a fundraising appeal. Tell donors your most compelling story to inspire them to rally to your cause.

If you’d like to see samples of the Polar Bear S.O.S. campaign, contact Karen at 718-680-1627 or at kg@karengedney.com.