I realised after posting the piece below, which I rattled off in a bit of a hurry, that I had intended to, but forgot to, include some examples of brilliant emotional communications. So, here they are.
Here’s an ad that Dan Pallotta showed during his fantastic plenary at the Institute of Fundraising’s National Convention back in July. I doubt there was a dry eye in the house afterwards. I know it brought a tear to my eye. It’s also one of the best nonprofit television ads I’ve seen. Highly emotional. Brilliantly paced, scripted and produced. And if my reaction is anything to go by, I’d say highly successful. It’s goal was to recruit participants in a 60 mile, 3 day sponsored walk for breast cancer.
Following on from the recent Live Aid post, here’s a very emotional Bob Geldof telling the people of TV land to “give us the money NOW!”
But this isn’t just about communicating with donors. Emotion is at the heart of all effective communications that are designed to motivate people to take action. Take the great political speech-makers. Obama, Clinton, Martin Luther King. Their words and speeches aren’t dry and dense. They’re passionate, colourful and heart-felt. And such emotionally intelligent communicating is one the reasons Clinton and Obama were/are successful political campaigners. And why John Kerry, for instance, wasn’t.
Bill Clinton’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, in support of Barack Obama is a great example:
And here’s Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. This should be studied by everyone involved in nonprofit communications – fundraisiers, copywriters, campaigners.
(This is the full speech. The really good stuff starts around six and a half minutes in)
For more on emotion and politics. And, indeed, in communications generally, you should read Drew Westen’s excellent book, The Political Brain
I talked in the last post about the importance of making donors cry, a somewhat facetious shorthand for the need to forge an emotional connection with donors. You don’t necessarily have to draw tears, but you do need to move them. For me, the moment to strive for is when you – literally – feel it in your heart. The same feeling I get when I listen to Bob Dylan ripping into Like a Rolling Stone, live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, amidst the boos and catcalls, or when I hear Luke Kelly singing Raglan Road. That’s how powerful I want our direct mail to be.
I like to think that sometimes we come close.
Here’s Luke Kelly:
And just to wrap it all up, here’s Bruce Springsteen. Emotion, storytelling, passion. Donors deserve more of all of that.
Great post. I’ll take more time to watch all the video later. Just wanted to share with you the video that got me to open my wallet today. It doesn’t get any more emotional than this. Lucy Buck at the ChildsiFoundation is so sincere, genuine and honest. I frequently find myself tearing up when I watch her videos and they don’t cost much money at all.
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Hi Damion,
Great post. I’ll take more time to watch all the video later. Just wanted to share with you the video that got me to open my wallet today. It doesn’t get any more emotional than this. Lucy Buck at the ChildsiFoundation is so sincere, genuine and honest. I frequently find myself tearing up when I watch her videos and they don’t cost much money at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzxwUIE7wDQ&feature=youtu.be
Great blog. Thanks.
Kimberley
PS Hope that link works!