Every nonprofit should take time to assess whether donors are receiving the right message. Look at your organization’s most recent messages to donors. This includes social media posts, emails, thank you letters, newsletters, and any other communications recently distributed. While looking at each message, take some time to highlight these three things each with a different color:
• Things a nonprofit wants to tell a donor (light green)
• What a donor wants to hear from a nonprofit (blue)
• How your organization has helped to solve a problem (dark green)
Now, consider what your messages look like. If your messages are mostly highlighted in light green, you are likely not communicating effectively with your donors.
Put yourself in the donors’ shoes. Think about which of these two messages you would prefer to receive as a donor:
• “More money is needed to fight the adult literacy crisis”
• “Thank you for your donation. Because of you, 15 adults can take the first step toward learning to read and write”
View the PDF of our exercise here:
VIEW THE PDF
