The Case for Trust
If you ask people for their opinions, they feel like they're letting you down if they don't give you some. When it comes to something as intangible and malleable as a direct-mail message, almost everyone can think of something to say.
This can be a good thing. Feedback is valuable. Feedback can expand your thinking. But it can also be a bad thing. Uninformed feedback can — and frequently does — do a lot more harm than good. And committee or consensus feedback will always be overly cautious and even corporate.
Willis Turner believes great writing has the power to change minds, save lives, and make people want to dance and sing. Willis is the creative director at Huntsinger & Jeffer. He worked as a lead writer and creative director in the traditional advertising world for more than 15 years before making the switch to fundraising 20 years ago. In his work with nonprofit organizations and associations, he has written thousands of appeals, renewals and acquisition communications for every medium. He creates direct-response campaigns, and collateral communications materials that get attention, tell powerful stories and persuade people to take action or make a donation.
