Talk to your donors, not to yourself, to inspire action

Here’s an envelope that showed up in my mail the other day.

I like that the teaser is personalized to the donor’s first name. Nice touch.

But on the whole, the teaser is not the kind of thing anyone should be sending.

I suspect that “redefine cancer for the next generation” is a branding statement, crafted by brand experts in an attempt to position the organization.

It is probably quite inspiring to people who work at the organization, seeming to them to be realistic while also bold and inspiring.

But they clearly weren’t thinking about outsiders, like donors.

Who wants to “redefine” cancer? That’s ambiguous and abstract.

I understand the struggle: What should we say about what we want to do regarding cancer? We can’t really say we’re going to “cure” cancer, because it’s not one disease with one solution. Some types of cancer can or will be possible to cure. But more are becoming controllable chronic illness that people seldom die from — like diabetes. Many types of cancer are going these ways.

But “redefine” doesn’t capture that.

Nor does it capture the passion almost all of us feel about cancer.

I’ve lost several people I loved dearly to cancer. You probably have too.

I don’t want to redefine it, as if we just need to do some kind of word puzzle about it.

I want to kick cancer’s ass!

Okay, they probably shouldn’t use those words. But since you’re talking to prospective donors, why not enter their donors’ mind-space and talk about that?

Also, why “for the next generation”? Why now now?

I mean, I — or any of my family or friends — could get a cancer diagnosis next week! My I want the breakthrough that could save or improve our lives when we need it.

I understand the organization is taking a long view of this. And I’m glad they do.

But when they use that as the one thing they have to say to get me to even start thinking about donating, they are missing what really matters. To me.

(The contents of the envelope don’t really move beyond the teaser. It’s really not talking to us — it’s a lot of brand-speak that likely works for insiders and experts. Too bad.)

Even if some statement sounds good to you and your colleagues, that doesn’t mean it has meaning or resonance to the people you are trying to reach — to bring them in to the fight.

We need to go where they are — not where we are — if we want their hearts, minds, and dollars.