Like many one-time shy, spotty teenagers of a certain age, I was a big Smiths fan. I had the t-shirts. I had the albums (and the bootlegged copies - wasn’t it such a shame that home taping killed music?). And I once nearly made it to one of their gigs in Dublin. And then they broke up.
Now I wasn’t quite so fanatical that I promptly went into mourning, cried for a week and wore nothing but black clothes (actually, I did wear nothing but black clothes, but that was because that was the coolest thing you could do. Nothing to do with The Smiths splitting) but they have remained a favourite of mine ever since.
And listening to them again recently, it struck me how much the great Stephen Patrick Morrissey can teach us about fundraising and direct marketing. So, very conscious that I’ve probably already violated rule #1, here goes…
1. Always have a killer opening
Punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate.
Will nature make a man of me yet?
Is there a better opening line to a song? So evocative. So intriguing. And then you have Johnny Marr’s guitar into. The whole things starts with one big surge of excitement, which drags you into Morrissey’s world of broken hearts and unrequited love.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to claim any of our direct mail opening lines measure up to this standard. But that’s what we’re we’re constantly striving for. Here’s one that does actually come close, which I first came across in George Smith’s brilliant book, Asking Properly. It’s from the United Farm Workers union in the US:
I buried my husband this afternoon.
Yesterday, thousands of us walked in funeral procession through Delano, the same little town where so many years agomit was only Cesar, only Cesar and a faithful few walking door to door with a dream.
You’ll have to get the book if you want to read the rest of it. But I think you’ll agree that’s one arresting opening.
Here’s a couple of my favourite opening lines from our portfolio of work…
Barnardos:
You’re now holding a letter I hoped I’d never have to write.
I say this because Barnardos has never faced such a serious crisis as the one it faces today.
The Irish Hospice Foundation:
If you were out for a drive and you saw a clutch of pink balloons tied to a gatepost, you’d probably think they were for a child’s birthday party.
You’d never imagine they might be for the funeral of a little girl.
2. Inspire a fanatical devotion amongst your supporters
Concerts by The Smiths and, later, Morrissey, were renowned for the stage invasions by near-obsessed fans. And, of course, the band were well known for the legion of pale and interesting fans who followed their every word and move.
The Plundering Desire fansite epitomises this:
A dedicated teenage Smiths fan, I religiously cut out and kept every article and interview, review and news item from the various pop magazines and rock papers I bought and devoured on a regular basis.
These are fans who dressed like Morrissey, danced like Morrissey and presumably would have jumped in front of a double decker bus if he’d asked them to. Which is a nice segue into another song…
Now wouldn’t it be nice if your supporters were prepared to jump under a double decker bus for your cause? If they had the passion and devotion to go forth and tell everyone how great you are? To convince their friends, family and colleagues to support you?
Sadly, I think too many nonprofits are instead a little bit afraid of their supporters. Afraid they won’t like the next mailing. Afraid we’re asking them too often and for too much. Afraid they’re going to ‘lapse’ or ‘attrite’.
I think most supporters of non-profits really care about the causes they support. And I think that if we acknowledge that, and treat them with respect, they’ll respond with loyalty, passion and generosity.
3. Tell a good tale
All men have secrets and here is mine
So let it be known
For we have been through hell and high tide
I think I can rely on you …
And yet you start to recoil
Heavy words are so lightly thrown
But still I’d leap in front of a flying bullet for you
OK, what the hell is that all about? What secret? I get that there’s a lover involved. Or maybe an ex-lover? Times appear to have been rough - was there a fight? He still seems besotted though…
What Difference Does it Make is hardly an example of a traditional, linear narrative structure. The opening verse poses far more questions than it answers. And by the second verse, it’s beginning to take on the look of a crime thriller…
The devil will find work for idle hands to do
I stole and I lied, and why ?
Because you asked me to !
But now you make me feel so ashamed
Because I’ve only got two hands
Well, I’m still fond of you, oh-ho-oh
What did his one-time lover ask him to do? And why did it all go wrong? Maybe the next verse will tell me. Or maybe I’ll have to go back and listen to it all again…
There’s a reason that crime novels, thrillers and Dan Brown books are so successful. We love mysteries. In fact we love trying to work things out for ourselves. Page-turners are so-called because we keep reading to find out what happens. If we know whodunnit at the start, we’re unlikely to keep reading to the end.
It’s a lesson worth applying to fundraising letters. Once you’ve got someone to start reading, you want them to keep reading. Can you keep your reader guessing through a four page letter? Can you tease them through the opening lines of a case study. Can you keep them wondering how that case study is going to end? Too often the stories and case studies that are used in fundraising are dull and predictable. We know from the first line how it’s all going to turn out. We can spot the happily-ever-afters a mile away. And all too often these lifeless stories are told without style, without tension, and without drama.
Frankly, that’s not good enough. Our work brings us in to contact with some amazing stories. We owe it to our supporters to tell these stories with all our skill and passion.
4. Embrace emotion
I think one of the reasons The Smiths were so popular with socially inept teenage boys was that they provided an outlet for the expression of emotions that socially inept teenage boys aren’t good at expressing. And yes, I did think, for a brief period in 1985, that ‘How Soon is Now’ was written about my life.
But the emotion that drips off Morrissey’s songs is also the reason for their wide and lasting appeal. Because emotions are universal. And emotional appeals - whether is verse, or in 4 pages of fundraising prose are what move us to empathy and action.
It’s not enough to make a rational argument for action. You need to win the heart over. And you need to do that FIRST.
The Heath Brothers, authors of the wonderful Made to Stick, have a new book out called Switch - How to change things when change is hard. You should read it. They use the analogy of an elephant and it’s rider to describe our emotional and rational sides. The rider is rationality, the elephant emotion. As they say:
Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-tom Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely overmatched.
They argue that is you want to change things (which is essentially the same process as getting someone to take an action) you need to do three things - Direct the Rider (the rational argument), Motivate the Elephant (the emotional driver) and Shape the Path (the environment - in fundraising, this could be making it as easy to respond to an appeal as possible).
Sadly, some non-profits still fall back onto rational and logical arguments, and forget to appeal to people’s heart. But if you don’t Motivate your Elephant, you’re doomed to failure.
5. Focus on your fans and forget the rest.
Back in Tallaght in the 1980s, lots of people absolutely HATED The Smiths. I’d often be told by some snow-washed denim wearing Wet Wet Wet fanatic that Morrissey was ‘miserable’ or ‘depressing’. This song may have had something to do with that.
The sad fact is, just as some people didn’t appreciate the genius that was The Smiths, there are people who don’t appreciate the importance and urgency of your cause. Indeed, depending on your work, some people may actively oppose what you do.
These people are never going to support you. So stop worrying about them.
Stop worrying about what they might think, how they might react or what they might say. Instead devote all your energy to worrying about how you can make your fans even more fanatical, and - to stretch the metaphor to breaking point - how you can persuade the ones who’ll sing along when the song comes on the radio to go out and buy your album.
6. Ask!
If there’s something you’d like to try
Ask me, I won’t say no, how could I?
OK, I know it wasn’t written about fundraising. But it still works as a rallying cry. Go on, Ask!
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