A Monkey Could Write Better Fundraising Copy…

“The Way We Write Is All Wrong” summarizes the results of a recent computer analysis of fundraising language.  And it’s not pretty.  The author, Frank Dickerson, of Claremont University points to two primary problems.  He says fundraising copy:

• Lacks linguistic features that create an interpersonal, emotional connection with readers (e.g. personal verbs like I feel and I think and contractions.
• Lacks linguistic features that produce narrative (e.g. past tense verbs and quoted speech). In fact, their texts contain less narrative than academic prose, and even less than official documents!

Here is the executive summary.  Here is the full length paper on the research results.  His conclusion:

[T]he challenge of imbuing the written word with the same emotional range and impact of the spoken voice transcends the ages. While we all write, it is clear that effective writing in the genre of fund raising is far more difficult than it looks. It requires writing that speaks as the voice of those a nonprofit helps. And that requires marshaling linguistic resources to create speech-like interpersonal involvement and to cut narrative windows in texts. Through connecting narrative moments, readers will not only understand, but also feel how gifts change lives…

Apart from such deliberate attention to language, those who produce in-print and online fund-raising texts will continue to write discourse de facto—discourse written as if they are living in another place, at another time, writing for professor who is no longer there. Until leaders in philanthropy value language, the way we ALL write will remain all wrong.

Jeff Brooks of the Donor Power Blog comments on why contemporary fundraising letters are so deficient:

Here’s my theory why fundraising copy is the way it is: Committees. The best writing in the world is not going to survive the consensus-driven, CYA-focused, everyone-has-a-say process of most nonprofits. If it wasn’t dead yet, it will be by the time the committee is done with it.

There’s one very bright silver lining to this dark cloud: If you can beat the system and write good fundraising copy, you will stand out from the pack. You’ll be miles ahead of everyone else, a breath of fresh air to donors used to the anesthetic quality of most of the fundraising they read.

Something to keep in mind when you tackle writing your next solicitation!