Identity-Based Fundraising: What 6 Years of Research Revealed

© 2020 Tom Ahern 1
“Tom Ahern … is one of the
country’s most sought-after
creators of fund-raising
messages.”
The New York Times, Nov. 2016
Identity-Based Fundraising
Tom Ahern
Bloomerang ~ January 14, 2020

To make your
donor feel
good!!!
2© 2020 Tom Ahern
Important!
Wanted!
Needed!
“Proud of what I did!”
Happy!
Pleased!
Entertained!
Surprised!
THE ONLY PURPOSE OF DONOR COMMS
On a journey!
Discovering!
Deeply appreciated!
Thanked beyond
expectations!

“The most powerful kind of gift?
[When] your self-definition
includes the charity ... in fact
you’re giving to yourself.”
~ Psychologist Jen Shang
© 2020 Tom Ahern 3
Things learned at The Inch

© 2020 Tom Ahern 4
I’M THE SUM OF 6-10
IDENTITIES. SO YOU
HAVE 6-10 WAYS TO
CONNECT WITH ME.
P.S.: THEY OVERLAP

“We choose our
identities. And then
we wear them.”
~ Sim One “Rock Hunter” Joyaux, 2019
© 2020 Tom Ahern 5

© 2020 Tom Ahern 6
WHAT AN “IDENTITY” LOOKS LIKE

© 2020 Tom Ahern 7
WHY DOES 70% OF
OUR ESTATE GO TO A
LOCAL COMMUNITY
FOUNDATION?

© 2020 Tom Ahern 8
We learned about our local
community foundation ...
because of early jobs in the
nonprofit arts world. That’s
how we met, fell in love,
now married 34 years + >
one other thing ....
Identity
#1
Identity
#2
Identity
#3
Identity
#4

© 2020 Tom Ahern 9
Source: The New York Times, July 17, 2018;
via Sally Kirby Hartman
Identity
#4

10
That’s just wrong!
I’m going to
change that!
So proud of
this!
My faith shows me
what to do.
Part of
something
important!
© 2020 Tom Ahern
We can, we
should, do
better!

© 2020 Tom Ahern 11
EACH DONOR IS THE
SUM OF 6-10
IDENTITIES. YOU
HAVE 6-10 WAYS TO
CONNECT WITH EACH.
P.S.: MOST CHARITIES DON’T
BOTHER SURVEYING DONORS.

What happens when you introduce “identity” at “point of giving”
Source: Dr. Adrian Sargeant, Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, Sept. 2019

Please tick any of the statements below that are true for you:
[ ] Yes, giving is a vital part of what being a Christian means.
> This is an “identity statement.”
[ ] Yes, I care passionately about the work of XYZ.
> This is a “connectedness statement.”

How identity influences response rate
Source: Dr. Adrian Sargeant, Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, Sept. 2019
NO I.D.
TICKED BOTH

16
Add “identity” at “point of joining”

TODAY’S
IDENTITY
who you are at this moment;
“why would I mentally nod?”
“Hell, yes! I’ll
do it now.”

VERY FEW THINGS MATTER
MENTAL NODS MATTER
Dr. Siegfried Vögele

19
MENTAL
NOD?
NOW!
Creative: Maggie Cohn and Andrea Hopkins; thecasewriters.com
MENTAL
NOD?
Is this place or
idea part of my
identity?

20
We
need
you for
somethi
ng big
© 2020 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com
MENTAL NOD?
(DOG LOVERS)
MENTAL NOD?
(CAT LOVERS)
ABOUT
THE
DONOR

© 2020 Tom Ahern | www.AHERNCOMM.com 21
Mental nod!

Mental nod!

What the donor is looking for #1
(a.k.a., the Jen Shang first-encounter test):
“Which aspect — words or
imagery — makes your heart beat
just a little faster?” (If anything!)

“Donors are staggeringly
ignorant of the causes
they support.”
--
Richard Radcliffe
24© 2020 Tom Ahern

DONORS MAY BE IGNORANT, but what they
have in abundance are INDENTITIES:
values, interests, beliefs, connections,
experiences, traumas, upbringing, lost
loves, secret passions, regrets, fears,
angers, hopes, and uncommon empathy...

SPECIES
IDENTITY
Us being us: What makes humans different
than other lifeforms: empathy, compassion,
sympathy, cooperation, oxytocin, worship
“Of course! What
human wouldn’t?”

Source: Frontiers in Psychology, May 2014

“Humans are driven by a will to
establish meaning in their lives.
They need purpose.”
That’s your real job, in donor communications:
to bestow purpose in exchange for support.
29
Source: Neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, via the For Impact blog
© 2020 Tom Ahern

The strongest predictor of likelihood that
someone will make a charitable bequest:
childlessness
30© 2020 Tom Ahern
Source: Russell James III, 2014
If you didn’t
have kids,
what’s your
purpose?

SOCIAL
IDENTITY
the groups I identify with: my location;
nationality; education; status; “how others
like me act;” how I was raised; synthetic
families like college; faith-based: “As a
Muslim...”
“These groups made
me who I am.”

33© 2020 Tom Ahern
I was raised on tales of
“my kind” being unwanted
by the establishment...

They share your beliefs
34
Prof. Adrian Sargeant’s 7 loyalty factors
© 2020 Tom Ahern

“Is religion important
in your daily life?”
Asked by Gallup for decades

37© 2020 Tom Ahern
Source: American Bible Society

38© 2020 Tom Ahern
Source: American Bible Society
“Tick this box if this
statement is true for you...”

Religiosity in U.S. Regions
Gallup, January-December 2017
VERY religious MOD religious NOT religious
% % %
Southwest 45 31 23
Southeast 43 31 26
West Central 39 29 32
East Central 37 29 34
Rockies 35 27 38
Mid-Atlantic 33 30 36
Pacific 29 28 43
New England 26 26 48
SEGMENTATION REQ.

EMOTIONAL
IDENTITY
the things which please me, the things
which disturb me, emotional triggers
“I’m angry. I’m hopeful.
I’m ashamed.”

“I drank to ease my pain
… I hated myself.”
Source: McLean Hospital post-campaign wrap-up, 2018

Anger
Duty
Exclusivity
Fear
Flattery
Greed
Guilt
Hope
Salvation
Common emotional triggers

“MORAL CHALLENGE”
FUNDRAISING

Source: Jeff Brooks reporting on AMA Journal of Marketing Research, 2011

45
Source: NYU neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, in Emotionomics
“Negative emotions are
linked to survival – and
are much stronger.”

Source: Mark Phillips on Pinterest, Old Charity Ads
This is true &
bad...
...will you do
something about it?
EYE
CONTACT

Stats are weak
persuadersYour numbers are not your case.
Your numbers won’t save you.
But they can support your case, if used judiciously.
SOME BAD
NEWS
usually

48
Source: Dan Ariely, Duke U., 2010
Feel
Think
Feel
Think
Identifiable Victim Effect

STAFF LOVES IT,
BUT IT’S ALL
SECONDARY
INFORMATION

Statistics: “human
beings with the tears
dried off...”
Source: Dr. Paul Slovic, April 2007

“100% of Urban Debate
kids go on to college.”
A stat with penetrating power
will tell a before/after story.

EXPERIENCE
IDENTITY
the things which please me, the things
which disturb me, emotional triggers
“This happened to me
once...”

In the United States 98% of sexually
active women have used birth
control at some point in time...
Nearly one in four women in the
United States (23.7%) will have an
abortion by age 45.
Sources: Johns Hopkins, 2012; Guttmacher Institute, 2017

54
Source: Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy
EXTRA “no ask” thank you sent 6
weeks before renewal YE appeal
© 2020 Tom Ahern

TOMORROW’S
IDENTITY
Maybe you’re not as mortal as you think
“Live forever?
Really?”

How do we deal with the
existential challenge of
knowing we’re mortal?
We seek “symbolic
immortality.”
Dr. Claire Routley

59
How to DOUBLE your fundraising revenue
• Move 10% of your donors to monthly giving.
• Persuade about 3% of your donors to upgrade their
giving to the $500 level or higher.
• Get 5% of your donors to include you in their Wills.
Hilborn Charity eNEWS, via Future Fundraising Now, 2017
© 2020 Tom Ahern

Identity-Based Fundraising: What 6 Years of Research Revealed

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