A non-profit Value Proposition answered the question, “Why should anyone give to you?”
This is the question you need to answer — for yourself and for your donors — before you do any asking.
You might be able to answer it easily. Or, you might struggle. You might have an answer that you think is great, but isn’t convincing enough to prospective donors.
What Donors Care About
When answering the question why people should hand over their hard-earned cash to you, a common mistake is to simply focus on the work you do. Instead, you need to express (and maybe discover yourself) the value of your work on your donors’ lives.
This is why you need to think through and compose a Value Proposition.
Your Value Proposition expresses to your prospective donor the core reasons why they should give to you. You should articulate an overall Value Proposition for your organization. And you should include a Value Proposition particular to each campaign you run.
The following framework for composing a Value Proposition comes largely from the group NextAfter.com. I’m borrowing their “4-principal parts of a non-profit Value Proposition” from a workshop I attended in their September 2022 NIO conference (Non-Profit Innovation and Optimization). If you’ve never been to a NIO, I highly recommend you look into it.
The Elements of a Non-Profit Value Proposition
The 4 key elements of a non-profit Value Proposition are:
Appeal
Exclusivity
Clarity
Credibility
The more you emphasize these 4 principles when talking about your mission, the more you’ll convince people to support it. Let’s look at each.
Appeal
Appeal answers the question, “Why should I give to you at all?”
The key element to the appeal principle is to show the impact that donations will make.
Here are some ways to show impact:
Helping Those in Need Helps Everyone
Making the world a better place for everyone is very attractive to everyone. So, as you describe how your mission will help change the lives of the individuals you directly help (like reforming criminals, aiding veterans, or giving tuition breaks to students), be sure you show how their improved lives will help society at large (which includes your donor).
Focus on the Particular over the General
When talking about appeal and impact, it’s better to focus on the particular over the general.
Here is an appeal that is too general:
“With support from pro-lifers like you, our missionaries reach out to moms with accurate information, sharing the fullness of Catholic teaching on life and family.”
Here is a version that gets more specific:
“With support from pro-lifers like you, our missionaries reach out to moms with accurate information. They offer pro-life medical care. They give out baby supplies. They share the fullness of Catholic teaching on life and family.”
Here is a version that gets very particular by focusing on an individual person helped:
“With support from pro-lifers like you, our missionaries reach out to moms with real help. Moms like Lisa, who escaped her war-torn Ukrainian town on foot, seven months pregnant with dangerously high blood pressure. With help from our missionaries, she got an emergency C-section and was set up with supplies and a place to stay while her husband continued fighting at the front.”
Adding a story like this also increases credibility, as explained in the credibility section below.
Focus on Impact Over Benefits
One mistake many donation pages make is focusing on benefits rather than impact. Offers like, “Give today, and we’ll send you this gift” are a far less motivator than expressing the real impact their gift will make in your mission.
Emphasize the Donor’s Role
It’s also important to emphasis that it’s the donor making the impact. Not your organization. Showing the prospect what it would look like for them to help makes it real for them. Make it clear that it is they who will make the difference.
Exclusivity
Exclusivity answers the question, “Why should I give to you instead of someone else?”
This is where you need to show how your mission work is different from others. Is there something that will simply not happen if you don’t do it? This is also the principle of differentiation.
Make sure to show how your organization is unique. It’s hard to refuse to help someone who is not only doing great work but is also the only one doing it.
If others are doing similar work, show some way in which yours is exclusive. Are there others doing this work in the same place as you? If not, you can say that this work would not get done here if we were not doing it.
This principle should also be applied to your email sign-up forms. “What you get from us cannot be found anywhere else.” Be sure to express that.
Clarity
This answers the question, “How quickly and easily can I understand what you’re asking me to do?”
This is where a good writing course can help! Clarity in communications is critically important and is not as common as it should be.
But it’s not just how clearly you write. It’s also how clear and specific your message is. Read your appeals and ask yourself, am I using too many words to get my meaning across?
Design should also be considered. Is your message scannable? If writing an ad, are you using different type treatments (size, weight, colors) to show the hierarchy of ideas and in what order the message should be read?
Calls to action should also be clear and focused. And asks should be direct. Boldly ask for a gift rather than asking for the more generic “support.”
Credibility
This answers the question, “Do I believe what you’re saying is true?”
When a donor or prospect has been receiving your communications for some time, they come to know you and trust you. But what about those who come for the first time? How likely are they to open up their wallet for your cause?
This first encounter is even more critical if you are hoping to get an immediate gift. Getting that first gift on the first visit should be your goal for three reasons:
- That’s when your lead is often the warmest. (They’ve shown a real interest by coming to your site.)
- Most first-time visitors whether they come from earned or paid traffic will never come again.
- If you’ve just given them a gift (like a free download), they are most disposed to giving back.
Getting them to sign up for your email list and then appealing to them later is a fine plan B. But by the time they start reading your material, their initial interest may have grown cold.
So, while you’ve got their interest and attention, be sure to come across as credible. Here are some ways you can establish that credibility.
Storytelling
Telling a story about a particular person your organization has helped makes your mission vivid in the mind of your prospect. The more vivid, the more real and believable.
You don’t have to give names (although it’s great if you can). But talk about the people whose lives you’ve really impacted. This not only adds credibility, but it also motivates people to act. Everyone wants to be part of a winning team. And if you’ve got a track record of successes, let them know about it.
Testimonials
Testimonials also give credibility. This could be from a person whose life you’ve impacted, or it could be from an outside source who can testify to the value of your work. The first will often be the most moving. But the second can also be affective, especially is the person is known or has provable credentials.
Show you’re responsible with donations
In addition to talking about people you’ve helped, giving some sense of how you spend money can also build trust. This could be detailed information, like stating what percent of donations go to your mission work (as opposed to administration costs). Or you could offer a general statement that assures them of your responsible spending.
Conclusion
Communicating a clear Value Proposition can make a great difference in motivating people to support your mission. You should make a habit of critiquing each of your appeals against these principles. Here is a handy chart you can download and refer to when you’re writing.
If you have questions or comments, please leave them below. You can also reach me at (email)