Is 1 Child Actually More Motivating Than 1 Million?

Now, let's talk about how we deal with this.

1. There are certain types of donors who absolutely require statistics. The younger generations absolutely need to see proof, progress and data.
2. You must strike the right balance between providing the emotional connection while also feeding the other side of the brain with the right amount of information about the cause.
3. Your message needs to help the donor understand that while the challenge might be large, individual donations will make a difference. But, you must help her understand how that difference will be made. She must truly understand that not only is her financial support needed, it is truly necessary.

Overall, you must ensure that you are very clear that there is hope. Slovic states that this is extremely hard for nonprofits because of the need to "state the facts." I believe there is an opportunity to tell both the facts and actually create the emotional connection that is needed to motivate. But, it must be personal. It must be a direct appeal to that individual donor, and Slovic says it well: "the way to combat this hopelessness is to give people a sense that their intervention can, in fact, make a difference."