Are your gift ask strings needlessly complex?

You’ve probably seen ask strings on reply devices like this one, shared by The Agitator at Your Gift String Should Not Need a User Manual:

• $120 repairs a damaged roof and broken windows
• $100 provides psychosocial counseling for one person
• $295 delivers emergency essentials to a family

Very common. And problematic.

It makes all the sense in the world to organizational insiders. They recognize those different activities that are necessary parts of a project. They are, no doubt, given as “examples” of what a donor’s gift can help make possible.

But does the donor know that?

We should assume they don’t. An ask string like this is basically a list of items for sale at different price points. As The Agitator puts it:

Perhaps the diverse list snags a wider net of interest if one person cares about shelter and another cares about trauma care. But the cost is cognitive load. Now the donor is comparing roofs to counseling to essentials. Is the $100 gift better because it is cheaper? Is $295 more urgent? The donor has been promoted from helper to unpaid logistics manager.

A better approach is to encourage donors to make possible one activity. In this case, maybe, that might be “help people rebuild from the destruction” — with price points that are based on helping different numbers of people. So:

• $50 to help one family rebuild
• $100 to help two families rebuild
• $150 to help three families rebuild

That way, the donor doesn’t have to “triage” your activities. The only “math” you’re asking them to do is how much they want to donate.

Keep it simple. Donors aren’t being paid to figure out how your programs work. They’re just deciding if they’ll give, and how much.