In Your Fundraising Writing, WHO Are You Writing To: Crafting a Donor Persona

I’m looking forward to reading the third edition of Ken Burnett’s marvelous book, “Relationship Fundraising: A Donor-Based Approach to the Business of Raising Money.”

One of my favorite things about “Relationship Fundraising” is that Ken prefaces every chapter with a “Donor Profile,” an in-depth story about one particular?individual and how and why they give.

Each profile describes in depth a particular donor’s day-to-day life, his/her likes and dislikes, the kind of car that he/she drives, and even his/her upbringing.

What we fundraisers often forget is that the “who?is so much more important than the?what.”

We’ll spend hours crafting our mission statement, our offer, or our organization’s story — without giving the slightest thought to the person who is reading it!

And, while a natural disaster may bring out nearly everyone’s humanitarianism, you’ll strengthen your fundraising efforts by spending some time getting to know your donors.

Copywriter Lorrie Morgan goes so far as to attempt to whittle down your ideal client — in our case, this would be our most loyal and dedicated donor — and she refers to that individual as your “tarquet.”

Do what Ken Burnett does and truly envision that person. What they do for a living, what they wear, where they live, how many children they have, where they worship — give them a name.

Here’s an example:?

I once worked with a small nonprofit organization with a dual mission: they provided inner-city middle school children with the tools they needed to go beyond their oppressive public school education and go on to scholarships at private schools or the city’s best magnet schools, and eventually college. The programming was taught by talented high school and college students, which, in turn, drew talented teachers into urban education where they were most needed. A definite win-win.

After reviewing a sampling of our most loyal donors, when I envisioned this agency’s “tarquet” for a particular appeal, I arrived at “Lisa”, a 47-year-old woman with a master's degree in political science. Lisa didn’t grow up in the area but moved here with her husband for his career. She considers herself a progressive and an environmentalist and believes in the importance of giving back.

Lisa and her husband enjoy a relatively affluent lifestyle and live in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Their eldest son is in his junior year at UC Berkeley and their daughter is in her junior year at the local public high school. She drives a Honda Civic hybrid and shops at Whole Foods. Lisa volunteers for three organizations and serves on two boards.

“Lisa” was not a real donor. She was a fusion of what I knew about a solid handful of our most loyal donors and board members. I gave her a name, a picture, and a story. And when I wrote, I wrote directly to Lisa.

How would you identify your organization’s “tarquet,”?and how would you define their big WHY? Download my free template and spend some time envisioning your “tarquet.” This template includes a persona submitted by one of our students.?

Defining your donor will go a long way toward clarifying your fundraising writing.