Who says statistics have to be boring? Combining the right images with the right facts can pack an emotional punch every bit as powerful as the most compellingly crafted story.

Unfortunately, most of us think that people will respond to “the facts” when presented in a clear, straightforward manner. Forgot you’re dealing with human beings, didja? As overly rational and unemotional as I am, I still respond when you push the right buttons … just as we all do.

Jeff Brooks posted recently on how emotional messaging in fundraising appeals beats rational messaging every time. The study he cited found that emotional content in advertising outperformed both purely rational and a rational/emotional mix (significantly so compared to rational-only).

There’s a reason we respond to the emotional appeal … it’s because we’re wired that way. As much as you’d like to dazzle people with your brilliant logic, logic alone won’t do the trick. You need to make an emotional connection. I’m more likely to stop and think if you do.

The video above does a pretty good job of this. It contains a number of facts that would probably elicit a “hmmn, interesting” response if presented in a whitepaper or typical PowerPoint presentation. This approach grabs your attention and forces you to consider the ultimate question: “What does it all mean?”

Watch and then tell me it doesn’t make your spine tingle just a little.

photo by freeparking

A recent article in the Washington Post about the perceived ineffectiveness of Facebook’s Causes application to raise money has kicked up a lot of upset among fund raisers and other nonprofit pros.

You’ll find excellent responses to the article out there from Allison Fine, Beth Kanter and Jeff Brooks. The main takeaway is that, unless you’re running for president, social media is a far more effective friend raiser than fund raiser.

That really shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s worked in the nonprofit world for any length of time. Every institutional advancement professional I’ve ever worked with understands that relationship-building precedes the ask. Unless the ask is for pocket change.

Real money comes with time. Fund raiser gets to know the donor, what motivates. Donor develops an understanding of the organization’s mission, its potential to make an impact and how a gift actualizes that potential. Successful fund raising is the matchmaking process of the right donor to the right cause. Social media at this point can facilitate and accelerate that process, but it doesn’t replace it.

Serious money is raised by people, not direct mail and Facebook pages. I seriously doubt anything will replace the slow, methodical getting-to-know-you process that great fund raisers do so well.

So while the Post article wasn’t particularly revelatory about its subject, it did serve as a pointed reminder that most media outlets do a lousy job of covering the nonprofit sector. It’s ironic given all the debate about the nonprofit model as a potential savior of journalism.

photo by respres

Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog has some good advice on whether you should be using Twitter (or social media in general) as part of your nonprofit communications/fundraising strategy. His list of reasons not to tweet applies equally well to other organizations.