Our donors hated it

You’ve heard that one before: The fundraising project failed because our donors hated it.

No they didn’t.

It failed because you didn’t make them care.

Failed fundraising is nearly always bland, flat, confusing, irrelevant. Designed specifically to avoid being hated.

If donors had hated it, you’d have got more response. When people hate something, they are more likely to respond. It’s when they don’t care that you get little response.

Any experienced fundraiser will tell you: The most successful campaigns are also the ones that generate the most complaints.

If you are able to create something that people hate, congratulations! That means you have it in you to create something that moves them to action.

Don’t confuse yourself by saying donors hate your failures. That makes you work to minimize the hate. Which guarantees more failure.

(This post first appeared on July 20, 2016.)