This post marks the beginning of a series on insights from sociology and psychology to raise more money, gain more supporters, and change behaviors. If you have a cause to promote this series will be helpful. If you are just starting a nonprofit and want to get decent fundraising or marketing results faster, this series will be helpful too.
First, let's look at some basic scientific concepts that might be valuable in your digital marketing efforts. Then we'll dive into some psychological insights you can use to raise more money or keep your supporters loyal to the organization.
Social Marketing Science 101
If you've never taken a course on psychology, sociology, or behavioral economics...well, you've been missing out on some valuable insights. We'll return to the point in future posts. For now,, I want to focus on some basic scientific terms that can and should, come up often in nonprofit marketing efforts.
Theory - In science, a theory is the best available explanation of how a natural phenomenon works. A theory isn't exactly the same as an idea or a guess. In science, a theory is a product of research in the real world. In the nonprofit world, we sometimes create a theory of change to explain what our program will do, and how we know that. In nonprofit marketing, you might develop a theory of how and why people respond to your content.
Hypothesis Testing - What sort of image or slogan might make your audience eat less meat? Think of the emotion or motivation or value you might tap into when crafting a message. Can you tap into a love of animals, or a fear of disease, or a desire to be "on trend" somehow? Think about. Make a prediction about what will work. Figure out how to test your idea. In short, this is how hypothesis testing works.
Experiments - When we think of experiments, we often think of test tubes, arcane measuring devices, and men (sometimes women) in lab coats. Well, that's a little off-target. In fact, an experiment is a tool that can help us figure out how X relates to Y. In marketing, you can do experiments by testing things to see what works better. Try two subject lines in your next fundraising email, See which email gets opened more often. You just did an experiment.
So, those are three key concepts you need to master. You can apply that knowledge to design better fundraising campaigns.
Psychology and Fundraising
People like to keep things the way they are. If you can get people to commit to a monthly donation, they are likely to stick with that monthly amount instead of changing it or just ending their support. This is an example of what psychologists call status quo bias.
People will try harder to avoid a loss than to realize a gain in money or influence or whatever. If you are selling products to generate revenue, you can use this to generate extra money by advertising temporary savings. Sell a $19 book for $12 but only for the next seven days. If your site visitors know about the book and are interested, they'll be more likely to buy it.
If you reduce the pain of giving, people are more likely to part with their money? Lost money now is much more valuable to us than the same amount lost in the future. You could use this hyperbolic discounting phenomenon to secure pledges that are due later, say the end of next month. Someone who hesitates to donate $25 today might be more giving if they promise the money now and give it next month.
We like to compare ourselves to others, even if we don't like to admit it! Psychologists know this herd mentality exists and rears up in all kinds of decisions. If you want people to drive less and walk more, share information on the community on walking. How many people have recently pledged to walk or bike sometimes instead of driving? How many people took your pledge to walk 10,000 steps per day? Make sure your site visitors know those figures!
You can use the same logic to raise a little more money. If you have a track record of getting donations, you can share your average donation amount. If your average online donation has been $38, share this fact on your donation page and other places where it seems to make sense. Maybe some donors decide to donate a little more. If 20 people a month up their amount from $20 to $30, to be nearer the average, you raised $300 that month with no extra work. If you average a couple hundred online donations per month, using this kind of social comparison can be valuable.
Framing - Not Just for Photos
How you present an issue is basically the frame. To explain, whatever the cause or problem your organization works on, there are different ways to talk about it. The frame you select can make a substantial difference in how people see the issue under consideration. You want to present your issue as important and worth spending time and money on. Right?
Choose to frame something in a negative way if you can. Child poverty is a classic example. Which bit of news makes someone more supportive of a cause:
> Last month 8 in 10 Tennessee children did not go to bed hungry.
> Last month 2 of 10 Tennessee children regularly went to bed hungry.
That 8 in 10 figure makes it look like the issue is under control, more or less. The second statement, which uses the same data, points to a big problem. You could use similar logic to talk about almost any social problem. If there are statistics, you can use them to show us there is a real problem that deserves attention.
You can achieve the same effect by using raw numbers and percentages strategically. What if I told you 20% of Tennessee children went to be hungry last night? What if I told you that 243,000 Tennessee children went to bed hungry last night? Assume both claims are 100% accurate and I can back up my numbers. Now, which figure do you think is more likely to encourage donations?
Can you think of raw numbers or percentages or rates that might help to "sell" your programs or ideas or whatever? Take a couple of minutes to think about that. Write down the social problem or the social opportunity (!) that your organization is tackling. Brainstorm some relevant statistics.
Narrative Empathy can be Valuable
I'm not the first person to tell you that stories are powerful, or I hope not. If you want to attract support or encourage people to change behavior, tell a story. But, keep it short and keep it relevant to your cause and your audience. I don't think there's any scientific support for telling a story a certain way. But, focus on a person or family. Make the person or family like your target audience in important ways.
Impoverished Black women aged 18 to 22 will not be impressed by the story of a middle-aged white man who reinvented himself as a data scientist. A young Black mom who dropped out of high school but now works as a Web designer...that sort of story might work.
People relate to people, not to numbers. That is what narrative empathy really means. Sure, it can be useful to know the poverty rate among young Black women is 44%, versus 14% for White women, but you can't move people to action with those numbers. Maybe a little bit, but not really. Share a good story when you can.
We'll come back to the science of storytelling in future posts. Next time, I want to dive into some more social science tips and tricks you can use to raise money or change minds.
Summary and Homework
I hope this short post helped to convince you that using some insights from psychology and sociology in your nonprofit marketing is important. Until then, pick one or two things you read about this week and apply them. Revise your donation page or your fundraising email or your social marketing plan. Comment below to let us know what you decide to try out.
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