FEELINGS And How to Destroy Them: Stories that move people (Another fundraising blog about storytelling)

A lot has been said before about emotive storytelling and its importance to fundraising. We walk away from presentations by Tom Ahern or Ken Burnett and we say "yeah! That makes sense!" Alan Clayton is rumoured to make people cry in his masterclasses. And if you're open to being confused by dead-pan humour, Sean Triner and Mark Phillips can be pretty convincing. 

And, while we say we "get it", do we really get it? 

When you read George Smith, Terry Murray, Mal Warwick, or even great advertisers like Bernbach and Ogilvy, they all say something about Feelings and connecting with people. And that is what all great fundraising does. 

I, like most people, enjoy the illustrative language, the humorous anecdotes and puns and the - almost expletive - never-ending rants from fundraisers like Jeff Brooks. Yet the Twitter accounts, the daily feeds and blogs, the multiple conferences and masterclasses, volumes of beautiful books and countless success stories from other charities around the world fail to influence some fundraisers. 

And then it dawned on me. 

Maybe one more blog post will do the trick. Perhaps THIS repetition of the 'tried and tested', the black and white facts and irrefutable proof might make the difference. Will you tell me I'm dreaming?

Whether in vain or not, here are 5 Core, well-rehearsed and ever preached passages that no direct mail letter should ever exclude:

1. Find a story. A real human story. Tell that story it until the words bleed from the paper.

2. There must be a clear and present NEED. If your organisation isn't able to articulate a real problem that requires it to fundraise, then don't bother writing the letter.

3. The SOLUTION is YOU (no not you, the supporter). A supporter's gift has the power to save, change or improve lives. Your task as a fundraiser is to convince your supporters that this is true.

4. People give to PEOPLE, not organisations.  Your readers are not donating to you. The charity is merely the facilitator of a donation, not the recipient. If you want to sell your organisation to supporters then get a budget like McDonald's or Coke.

5. Ask. Don't forget to ask for something. Anything. That three syllable word in your title implies that you are responsible for raising funds. To do so, you need to ask. If disguised behind a real purpose as dictated by points 1 through 4, it might actually convince people that you need something.

With any luck, these 5 points may have just made the world a better place.