Kind Persuasion: Madeleine Nance on Asking Without the Ick

Sep 11

Kind Persuasion — with Madeleine Nance

Your supporters have already told you why they give. Most organizations let it evaporate.

Madeleine Nance has spent seventeen years in the nonprofit sector. She started in-house in Australia as a development director, working inside three organizations that ranged from an animal shelter to one of the country's largest national charities. She then spent seven years as a fundraising copywriting specialist, and now runs Kind Word, where the work is mostly strategy and training. She joins Sarah to explain where fundraising copy actually starts: not with words, but with the person who is going to read them.

She walks through a real example. A woman being interviewed for an animal organization mentioned, almost in passing, that she keeps old towels in the back of her car, just in case she comes across an injured animal that needs help. That one sentence tells you more about who gives to that cause than any donor persona ever will. Put it in an appeal, and the next supporter reads it and recognizes herself.

If your appeals sound like everyone else's, this episode explains why, and what to do about it.

In this episode:

The name cover test, a five-minute check on whether your copy sounds like anyone at all
The four steps of Kind Persuasion: I care, I feel this, I trust you with this, I'm in
The one phrase to listen for in every supporter conversation
Why demographic personas miss what actually moves people
How to reframe the ask so it stops feeling like a favor you're begging for

A few ideas to apply at your nonprofit:

Cover your logo and read your last appeal cold. If a stranger couldn't name your cause, the words aren't working yet.
Start a spreadsheet. Every time a supporter tells you why they give, write down their exact words. In a few months you'll hold language more persuasive than anything you'd draft alone.
Listen for "I'm the kind of person who…" Everything that comes after it is usable.
Open donor interviews with easy yes-or-no questions, then follow with "tell me more." People warm up as they go.
Decide what feeling you're after before you write, whether that's warmth, outrage, or heartbreak, then build toward it on purpose.

Resources Mentioned

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