Fundraising and the Backward Brain

The Easier Said Than Done Engineering Department recently was commissioned to diagnose the root causes behind the failure of a direct-mail fundraising appeal that we'll call Project X.

Most people given that assignment would focus on things like strategy, audience selection, offer, timing and creative presentation. But our engineers went to the real root causes of Project X's failure: the brains of the people who planned and executed it. Here's their report: The cause of the failure of Project X was a serious and repeated case of hemispheric flip in the brains of the people who did the work. (Brain function review: The right hemisphere of the brain processes information in emotional, qualitative and connective ways. The left side processes rationally, quantitatively, sequentially.)