Nine essential questions for crafting a compelling fundraising offer

Marketing pros have debated the importance of your fundraising offer — and the best way to present it — for years. Some say your offer is gospel. Others say today’s increasingly brand-attuned donors are more concerned with donor experience and “the voice” of the organization. Still others are somewhere in between.

Let’s just talk about that...and then review nine questions you must answer to arrive at a great offer (that accurately represents your brand).

What is a fundraising offer?

At the most fundamental level, a fundraising offer is a value exchange: the donor’s resources in trade for a promised outcome he or she cares deeply about. A rumbling stomach filled. A broken life transformed. The Good News proclaimed. That’s what donors want. And more importantly, it’s what they’ll give up their hard-earned coin for.

For example, a rescue mission might say: “Every $1.99 you give now will share a meal and care at the ABC Mission.” (And notice I didn’t say, “Every $1.99 you give now will enable us to share...” The essence of donor-focused fundraising is taking your organization out of the middle of the exchange and giving the donor credit, through God’s leading, for the good work.)

Some fundraisers say — only somewhat humorously — you can take a strong offer, print it on a tattered 3 x 5" card, throw it in the mail, and get someone to respond. But present a vague and watered-down offer in even the slickest YouTube video or direct mail package and you just might get bupkis.

No matter where you land, I believe you can rightly argue that there’s a big ole nugget of truth here: Your offer is absolutely critical. Some, including me, say offer is king in the world of direct response — as long as it is carefully crafted, compelling, and presented within the context of a unique, well-developed organizational brand.

To repeat: You must wrap your offer in a fully baked brand identity — the personality, the promise, and the positioning of your ministry. Call it your brand essence.

Why your offer is so important

Of course, we know there’s more to it than that. When donors act on a compelling offer — when they respond to your call to action — they want to see their all-important, personal, emotion-laden charitable giving goals met. At the most fundamental level, they want to be blessed with purpose, meaning, and an excellent donor experience — one based on genuine rapport, a common mission, a bold vision, and shared values.

If that is what’s at stake, then you absolutely cannot do anything less than present a clear, highly beneficial proposition — in the eyes of the donor! — that has the unmistakable ring of truth and equals the brand experience provided by the best companies and service providers they do business with every day.

If your offer is so crucial to a successful fundraising outcome, then why do we see weak, wrongly targeted, threadbare fundraising offers?

I believe it’s because we’ve lost sight of the following crucial fundraising imperative: if you want to improve your fundraising results, one of the first places to start is by improving your offer. Ensure that it is presented to your valued partners within a brand experience that matches that of even the most respected and successful business enterprises.

How to develop a great fundraising offer

Here are nine questions you must answer about your offer before moving forward.

Answer honestly — as if YOU are in the donor’s shoes — and you’ll be on your way to a brilliant offer:

1. Why are you contacting me today?

Don’t waste your donor’s time, don’t ask for too much or too little, and don’t undermine their confidence in you.

2. What are you (the organization) doing about it?

What is your organization doing now, or planning to do with your donors’ partnership, to solve the problem or leverage the opportunity?

3. What are you asking me to do?

What can your donor do to help solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity by sending a gift now?

4. Is it a good deal?

It must be true, of course, but does it have the ring of truth? Furthermore, would the average donor say a response is worthy of his/her time and financial investment? If you answer No here, you have no reason to continue the development process until you can make adjustments that will get you a Yes.

5. Does this all really make sense?

Clarity is Job One. If your donor is scratching his/her head over your convoluted proposition, they’re likely to throw you in the trash, delete your email, or ignore your online display ad.

6. What do I get out of it?

If clarity is Job One, then donor benefit is Job Two. We’re all self-interested. It’s just human nature. Ideally, your persuasive presentation of donor benefits will help move your partner toward a feeling of personal and spiritual satisfaction as charitable giving goals are met.

7. Why should I care?

You’ll have a hard time inspiring your donor to care with statistics that have no context, stories that share no real need to be met, and writing that lacks emotion. Instead, promise an unmistakable future outcome the donor truly cares about.?

8. Why should I do it now?

Add urgency — real urgency, not manufactured — to further motivate the donor.?

9. Does it align with my brand expectations?

Brand is the context — the framework — within which you and your valued partners interact. They’ve been trained by hundreds of savvy brands they appreciate and they know what brand clarity, distinction, and trust are. They’ll expect the same from you. If your brand has earned their loyalty, then half the battle is already won.?

As you can see, offer development is work. It requires a clear understanding of what your donors want, need, and expect from you. What’s more, it demands ongoing testing, innovation, and financial investment. But your time, effort, and expense will be worth it.

So let me encourage you to take a look at your offers. Make it a priority to work on refining existing offers, innovating new ones, and then testing them. And before you test one more envelope, one more subject line, one more direct mail format, one more email approach, consider what a new offer wrapped up in the genuine appeal of a well-developed brand experience could do for your results. It’s too promising to ignore.

Written by Craig Torstenbo