Talk less, write music & don’t acquire donors.
Three weekly insights to get funding
Juneteenth birthday
Got a year older yesterday.
(Which year, never tell!)
And I honored Juneteenth by supporting a few Black American storytellers I love. Who would you add to that list?
— Kevin
💪🏽💛
Three insights
1. Talk less, raise more.
I used to pitch the wrong way.
And it failed.
I would prep, prep, prep like a stage performance and talk, talk, talk thinking it was my job to impress.
But fundraising rewards silence, not speeches.
And listening, not selling.
Although “asking for a contribution makes most people nervous, which causes rambling,” says Lori L. Jacobwith. “And together, we have the perfect storm to make the most common fundraising mistake: talking too much.”
“If you want to get a YES — use less words.”
Learn how with 10 tips in this quick guide.
Less presentation.
More conversation.
2. Write music. Not words.
Fundraising is a dance.
↳ But your writing lacks rhythm.
And donors want stories that move them.
↳ But your messaging echoes in empty halls.
So embrace the music in writing, make your sentences swing, and write not just with ink, but with melody — like this infographic.
Need help?
Here are the five best (and free!) writing tools:
✏️ Grammarly
✏️ QuillBot
✏️ Wordtune
✏️ BlaBlaMeter
Let each word sing.
Then funding will harmonize.
3. Acquisition gets the gift. Not the giver.
It’s the most dangerous term in fundraising.
And everyone uses it:
Donor acquisition.
But donors aren’t livestock or land. Or other items you acquire.
And the word means "to buy or obtain an asset or object." So viewing it as acquisition causes three problems:
It's dehumanizing. “Prospective donors… crave organic connection and impactful collaboration,” says major donor Lisa Z Greer. But “donating to charities feels onerous, dehumanizing, disrespectful, manipulative, and just exhausting.”
Quick wins kill lasting relationships. Acquisition promotes short-term thinking. And leads nonprofits to prioritize immediate donations vs. long-term relationships. You would never say you need to acquire a spouse. Or acquire some friends. Right?
Focusing on visibility before viability. Donor acquisition puts your energy into pipelines and campaigns and awareness. Instead, your focus should be becoming fundable. First. Then findable. Then fundraising.
So what term do you think is better?
↳ Something that builds trust, not traps.
↳ One that treats donors like people, not prey.
Donor engagement?
Funder building?
Friendraising?
Drop your take in the comments.
P.S. This donor acquisition thinking comes from my new book, Fundable & Findable: The Brand-New Way to Fix Your Nonprofit Fundraising.
The weekly bonus
Organizations might “struggle to get views on expert content” says Pierre Herubel.
“That’s because they're missing out on 3 content rules:
1. People want to read unique point of views (not platitudes).
2. People don't read 100%; they skim through the content.
3. People read and engage more with visual content.”
So here are 29 types of visual content to spark your creativity. Experiment, mix things up, and see what kind of existing content you can repurpose.
Get my help
Are you ready to get even more fundable and findable?
Check out Fundable/Findable Bootcamp. It’s our self-paced, online course to maximize your funding. In just 15 minutes a day.
And it’s currently 50% off the regular price.
P.S.
Even spiders hate tangled messaging.