Fundraising and the Backward Brain

Quantitative, left-hemisphere problems remain abstract in people's minds. Human-sized, right-
hemisphere problems stir compassion.

Flip No. 6: Length of message

Left-hemisphere thoughts almost always look reasonable — because they are reasonable. That doesn't make them correct. That was the case when the creators of Project X decided, "Keep the message short and to the point." Many facts seem to back this up, starting with the fact that most of us don't personally read long letters. And when you ask donors, they almost universally say they prefer shorter messages.