Fundraising and the Backward Brain

Flip No. 5: Numbers vs. stories

Another direction used to guide the copy was: "Avoid schmaltzy emotional stories. Stick to numbers and facts." This was a second misuse of left-hemisphere thinking, which undervalues stories and imagery. People are not persuaded by numbers. In fact, the more numerical the problem, the less people are inclined to get involved. When confronted with the painful fact that something like 24,000 children die from hunger every day, donors are generally unresponsive. When they see the suffering of one hungry child, they are much more likely to give.