presentation for the 2016 Deutscher Fundraising Kongress

1. |
The science of giving
Berlin,April 2016

2. |Growth plan private persons’ fund recruitment for friendship
At Mindwize
we deliver
results

3. Through the whole of
Europe
.
. ..

4. With 50 specialists
with a passion for
results

5. With one goal:
To deliver a
steady flow
of donations

8. THE SEVEN TRUTHS
Why dopeople give?

10. 2005:
Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans
✤ 1,800 deaths
✤ 650,000 people homeless
2004:
A tsunami destroys the coast of Asia
✤ 226,000 deaths
✤ 2.5 million people homeless
Seventy-two
72
Seventy-two
72
Per person
72
Five hundred and thirty-eight
538
Five hundred and thirty-eight
538
Five hundred and thirty-eight
538
Five hundred and thirty-eight
538
Five hundred and thirty-eight
538
Per person
538
One point eight billion
1.8
One point eight billion dollars
3.5
Three point five billion dollars

12. Private Doctor
• Earns $700,000
• Gives $50,000
to Doctors Without
Borders and saves
500 lives
Doctor that works for
Doctors Without Borders
• Earns $18,000
• Saves 200 lives
Who has the better job?

13. SO…
• … if the amount that people give
is not based on the size of the disaster…
• … and if it is not based
on the number of people who can be helped…
• … then what are the real factors
that influence giving?

14. Join me on a journey into our brain

15. and the brain of Homer Simpson

18. TRUTH NUMBER ONE
Why dopeople give?

19. • Number one reason:
people give
because they are
asked.
People give
because they
are asked

20. TRUTH NUMBER TWO
Why dopeople give?

21. GIVING IS IRRATIONAL
AND EMOTIONAL

23. Me
500 km
in 24 hours

24. THE MARTYRDOM EFFECT

25. The right brains dominates
when it comes to donating
If you let people think with
their left brain
they will give less

26. REAL PEOPLE
DO NOT ACT LIKE
MR SPOCK
REAL PEOPLE ACT LIKE…

27. Real people act like Homer Simpson,
not like Mr Spock

30. Eight-year-old Dave
gets sick when he
drinks water from the
only water source in
the neighbourhood –
a pool of muddy,
smelly water full of
parasites and insects
Homer language

31. The older we get,
the more decisions we take based on emotion

32. HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?
• Appeal to the heart, not the head
• Tell stories of real people,
not of statistics and big numbers
• Do not sell the well;
sell the life of eight year old Dave
A life without being deathly sick, a chance to
go to school. A chance to work as a doctor to
help other sick children.

35. TRUTH NUMBER THREE
Why dopeople give?

36. Giving is personal

39. Would you say NO to me?

41. Sarah,
10 years old
Group 2 Group 3
A hospital needed 300,000 euros to help eight children
Group 1
Bert, 8 years old
Sarah, 10 years old
Li, 8 years old
Amanda,
12 years old

42. WE LIKE TO HELP OTHERS
LIKE US
• Gender, age, name,
street, city, country,
religion

44. • Stop talking about statistics
(tell the story of a real person)
• Use famous people who have a personal
connection to your charity
• Find things in your story that people can relate
to: gender/religion/town/street/name
• Ask the reader to imagine how the other person
must be feeling
HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?

45. TRUTHS 2 AND 3 ARE
REALLY HARD TO CHANGE
(HARDWIRED IN OUR BRAIN)

46. TRUTH NUMBER FOUR
Why dopeople give?

47. Giving is social

48. OUR BRAIN LIKES
TO TAKE SHORTCUTS

49. SO WE LOOK FOR WHAT
OTHERS DO

52. TELEPHONE FUNDRAISER
AT A PUBLIC RADIO STATION
Group 1: “How much can I put you down for?”
Group 2: “Someone else just gave 300 euros,
how much can I put you down for?”
Group 3: “Another woman just gave 300 euros”
how much can I put you down for?”
Group 2: + 29%
Group 3: + 34%

53. WE LIKE TO BE PART
OF A SUCCESSFUL CROWD

55. PEOPLE DO NOT WANTTO DONATE
INTO AN EMPTY BOX
DONATIONS MADE NEARTHE END FEEL MORE
SATISFYING (85% OFTHE GOALS ISTHE BEST)

56. HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?
• Make it clear that other people are supporting you
• If you use tickers or thermometers in your campaigns,
don’t show progress until you HAVE progress
• Use reminders to tell people they can still be part of the
achievement

57. TRUTH NUMBER FIVE
Why dopeople give?

58. NOT A GROUP,
BUT ONE VICTIM MAKES US ACT

60. Fact Box – Women in Afghanistan
✤ Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth
✤ 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
✤ 30 percent of girls have access to education in
Afghanistan
✤ 44 years is the average life expectancy rate for women in
Afghanistan
✤ 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in
Afghanistan
✤ A third of Afghan women experience
physical, psychological or sexual violence

62. “One death is a tragedy,
a million dead is a statistic”

64. One person
A group
Groups are more emotionally distant from us

65. 6.4 Million American children
live in poverty

67. • Tell your story through one person
• Avoid the big numbers, or even the small
• Ask people to help one person.
People like to help people.
And people like to make a difference in the lives of others.
HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?

68. TRUTH NUMBER SIX
Why dopeople give?

69. People like to give something tangible

74. • Come up with specific needs
• Make a tangible gift ladder
• Make it clear who I will be helping
• Make it clear the difference I will make
HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?

75. TRUTH NUMBER SEVEN
Why dopeople give?

76. Giving makes people happy
or:
People give because it makes them happy

77. CHOICE OVERLOAD

78. We give because we have a need to see ourselves as
a compassionate, unselfish and kind person:
“Yes, I am a good person!”
How much
good can I do
with my
money?

80. Donating to help somebody
Pleasure
Inspiration Empowerment
Instant gratification

81. “Happier people give more”
People who experience something positive
are more prepared to help others

82. Make people happy when they give
When you
are happy,
you give
more
Which makes you more happy
Which
makes you
give more

83. Helper’s high
“People who spend money on others
report greater happiness than those who
spend money on themselves”

84. HOW CAN WE USE THIS TRUTH?
• Put people in a feel-good mood: “How are you today?”
• Inspire people to save a life: “Are you inspired to save a life today?”
• Give them the chance to help someone
• THANK them and make them feel happy by
showing them how much good they have done!

85. NOW YOU KNOW
Why dopeople give?

86. “You are in the business of
selling happiness to donors”
M.A. Strahilevitz

87. Thank you
bas.van.breemen@mindwize.nl