2 Social Science Insights to Strengthen Your Fundraising

At its core, fundraising is a persuasive craft. It involves using rational and emotional appeals to move listeners and readers to take some action, such as making a gift or volunteering time, in support of your cause.

And while fundraising communications are often counterintuitive to people outside of the field, the reality is that most of its best practices are grounded in time-tested techniques and principles of classical rhetoric, defined by Aristotle as the “faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion.”

In recent years, a growing amount of research in behavioral science and social psychology has made it possible to understand many of these techniques on a deeper level, getting at how and why humans respond to different kinds of persuasion. Such research is a goldmine for fundraisers and other nonprofit leaders seeking to hone their craft—and improve their ability to bring together good people and good causes.

If that’s something you’re passionate about, here are two evidence-based insights from social science to start sharpening your fundraising communications right away.

1. 'Pre-Suade' Before You Persuade

In his 2016 bestseller “Pre-Suasion,” psychologist Robert Cialdini martials an array of data and field notes to show that it’s not only the message itself that leads to successful or unsuccessful persuasion. Instead, it’s the moment before an offer or request is made that is crucial. Whether fundraisers, salespeople or politicians, effective persuaders demonstrate an acute awareness of this key stage and spend time moving their audience into a favorable frame of mind before getting to the call-to-action. Why? Because we ascribe great importance to whatever captures our attention first in an interaction and it tends to frame and influence our subsequent response. In other words, what is focal ends up becoming causal.

For example, Dr. Cialdini’s book documents how, in one experiment, wine shoppers were much more likely to purchase a French wine when the store played French music—and more likely to purchase German vintages when German music was played.

In another experiment, people were much more likely to purchase an expensive box of chocolates if they had previously written down or spoken about a number higher than the price of chocolates (the chocolate seemed cheaper to shoppers with a higher anchor amount in focus).

Fundraisers, too, should pay attention to the lead-up that takes place just prior to making an ask. For example, if you want someone to consider funding a groundbreaking new project, first ask them whether they consider themselves adventurous. Or if you plan on asking someone to help volunteer, show them pictures of people standing close together or even ask them to help with a smaller, simpler task first.

2. Suspension Equals Attention

Ever notice how the email you started drafted but didn’t get to finish keeps popping into your head long after the end of the work day?

This is a prime example of a psychological phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik effect, named after Lithuanian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik. In the 1920s, Zeigarnik and her colleagues noticed that waiters in a local café had no problem remembering complex orders that hadn’t been served and paid for—while they almost instantly forgot the details of tabs that had been closed.

Zeigarnik went on to study this and gather evidence showing that humans tend to remember things that are incomplete—like interrupted stories and tasks—better than things that have been completed, which are then filed away from the forefront of our minds.

How can nonprofit leaders harness this tendency for good? Whether writing an email subject line or sharing a story in a donor meeting or direct mail appeal, fundraisers should look for opportunities to generate interest and then strategically suspend resolution, such as the end of a story, in order to allow listeners or readers to actively participate. By outlining a problem and holding off on immediately sharing the solution, or by piquing curiosity with teaser copy on the outside of an envelope, you invite your audience to mentally (maybe even physically!) lean forward in their chairs—and have a vested interest in generating resolution.

Conclusion

It should go without saying (but I’ll say it): Fundraising should never be deceptive. Persuasion is about moving people, not manipulating people. That’s reflected in the fact that neither of these insights from social science provide a surefire way to get the outcome you want—because at the end of the day, people are and ought to be free to follow their own hearts and minds.

What these insights can do is help you put the right things in focus and put your best foot forward when you’re building a deeper relationship with current supporters and getting new people involved in your cause.