Crafting Clear Messaging For Nonprofit Change

As we talked about on Monday, change is always happening! Here are some quick tips to help your donors and team tackle it together. 1. Communicate Early and Often One of the best ways to avoid surprising donors with sudden changes is to make a plan in advance. As we know, change is inevitable, and whether your senior leadership has been in place for 10 months or 10 years, a transition is coming–why not plan for it during periods of relative calm? For example, during a leadership change, donor relations should have a communication strategy in place to keep donors informed at pivotal moments. It’s important to understand who needs to know what, and when, which means keeping notification lists consistently updated. 2. Involve Donors in the Process Involving donors in organizational changes whenever possible can deepen their engagement. This can be done through surveys, committee participation, or personal meetings. By inviting their feedback, nonprofits can help donors feel more invested in the organization’s future, even as things shift. For instance, when considering changes to the scholarship experience for beneficiaries, invite donors who fund these awards to discuss the new direction and create understanding of why it’s necessary. 3. Focus on Long-Term Relationships, Not Individual Roles Staff turnover is unavoidable. The average tenure for development professionals is between 16-18 months, a period often too short for building lasting donor relationships. For nonprofits, it’s critical to ensure that engagement efforts are focused on the donor’s long-term experience rather than the individual relationships with current staff members. It’s important to implement systems and processes that allow donors to continue feeling connected, regardless of who holds a particular role. Your organization’s CRM platform can play a key role here by ensuring that donor history and preferences are easily accessible to new staff members. 4. Leverage Built-In Opportunities Organizational changes also present opportunities to strengthen donor relationships. For instance, a leadership change can be framed as a new chapter for the organization, one where donors are key stakeholders in shaping the future. Hosting in-person and virtual events with new leadership can be a way to connect with donors and reinforce their importance to the organization. These events provide opportunities for donors to ask questions, connect with new leaders, and continue feeling valued. 5. Be an Advocate for Donors As nonprofit professionals, no matter how organizational change is affecting our own role, it’s our responsibility to be the donors’ advocate. In many cases, donors won’t be at the table when major decisions are made, so it’s up to us to ask how these changes will affect them. Whether it’s the introduction of new gift acceptance policies or changes to event logistics, always consider the donor’s perspective.

A homeless shelter sends out two fundraising letters. Letter A says: "Your $100 donation provides emergency shelter and meals for someone experiencing homelessness. We serve over 500 people each month who desperately need a warm bed and hot food tonight. The crisis is growing. Please help…" Letter B says: "Your $100 donation helps people like James rebuild their lives. James used our job training program to earn his commercial driver’s license. Within 6 months, he went from sleeping in his car to driving for a local trucking company. Today, he has his own apartment and sends us a holiday card every year…" Which letter gave you more of a gut-level urge to give? Which letter do you think raised more money? If you said Letter B, you’re not alone. And you’d be right. But what’s most surprising is just how much more effective this shift in messaging was: 💰 3x more donors pulled out their wallets. 💰 The average gift jumped from $75 to $134. 💰 Total donations skyrocketed by 400% (!) This insight comes from groundbreaking research from Jonathan Hasford and his team, who call this the “autonomous aid effect.” They discovered that focusing on independence and long-term transformation—not just immediate needs—compels more people to give and give generously. Because when donors give, they want their money to create lasting change—not just put a band-aid on the problem. They’re moved by transformation, not just urgency. So, how can you apply this to your nonprofit’s messaging today? 🚫 Instead of: "Your donation feeds hungry families" ✅ Try: "Your donation helps families grow their own food through our community garden program." 🚫 Instead of: "Help us provide school supplies to children in need" ✅ Try: "Help students like Maria get the tools she needs to become the first in her family to graduate." 🚫 Instead of: "Support our job training program" ✅ Try: "Help determined people learn the skills they need to never need our help again." One homeless shelter in the study recreated their website, emails, and social media around this principle. Their donations have climbed year after year. Now, ask yourself: ❓ Does your website inspire donors to create lasting change—or just solve an immediate crisis? ❓Do your latest fundraising appeal emphasize immediate needs or independence? Crisis or transformation? Dependence or empowerment? This one messaging tweak can transform how donors see your organization—and how much they give. If you’re not 100% sure your messaging is doing this, it may be time to rethink it. P.S. If you want help revamping your messaging to inspire lasting change—and bigger donations—let’s talk. ___ 📌 This is the last of a series of 5 posts for nonprofits and nonprofit marketers about fundraising messaging hacks to kickoff the new year. Comment ME if you'd like me to send you the links to all five posts!