Do You Know What Boys Want?

Men are a somewhat forgotten demographic in the fundraising world. Nonprofits have long created campaigns that target women, minorities or other specific groups, but men seem to fall by the wayside, lumped into other general campaigns.

This probably is a mistake. Those few groups that do target men as potential donors find that while men give to fewer causes than women do, they give more to those causes they support — and there are some proven ways to make your work their cause.

Natural competitors
Men love to compete, and this can work to the advantage of any nonprofit. A January 2006 study conducted by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University found that donors were more likely to make larger gifts if they knew a person of the same sex had given a significant amount.

“Women tend to give from compassion; men give from competition,” says Shelley Serdahely, executive director for the social change organization Men Stopping Violence. “We establish leadership in the campaign when targeting men.”

For example, her organization recently solicited from a group of mostly male attorneys for a legal aid grant. Serdahely and her team invited the highest partners from the biggest firms to sit on MSV’s leadership council. They made sure those leaders were at every meeting so they were visible as part of the campaign. Serdahely felt the campaign was successful because it put law firms in competition with each other.

“Men understand the power of philanthropy,” says Joan Mazzotti, executive director for Philadelphia Futures, a nonprofit organization that provides urban high-school students the opportunity to go to college. “They make strategic gifts to better their business. I hate to characterize by gender, but business people (men or women) want to support organizations that have a record of success, and are able to quantify their result and performance.

“Nonprofits should succinctly articulate their performance and have ways of measuring this performance,” Mazzotti continues. “Men do this more successfully than women. Women are sometimes afraid to ask for money; men tend to do that more often.”

The personal touch
“We’ve found it’s virtually impossible to recruit male donors,” says Jamie Bearse, spokesman for the National Prostate Cancer Coalition in Washington, D.C. Bearse believes that one of the coalition’s biggest challenges is just getting men to go to the doctor for this disease, which is highly curable if detected early.

“We’ve found men make any excuse not to take care of their health, so when it comes to being active [in donating to a cause], it’s taking it a step further, and men won’t take an active role in getting involved.”

Compared to the hugely successful campaigns coordinated by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Bearse feels his coalition has a long way to go.

“We’re about 20 years behind the time line compared to breast cancer awareness,” Bearse continues. “Public figures like [former New York City Mayor Rudy] Guiliani and [former presidential candidate Bob] Dole started to make it OK to talk about it. Lance Armstrong has made it cool to wear … wrist bands, which has had a small effect on fundraising.

“But the majority of our donors are guys who have the disease and want to find a cure for it,” he adds. “They fund things that could lead to new treatments to help their own treatment. After they’re recovered, many drop their involvement with the campaign. This is very, very different from women who have survived breast cancer. Their ordeal creates a sisterhood; they work together for the cure. They stay involved for the rest of their lives.”

To emulate the tremendous success of the Komen foundation, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition recently partnered with men’s product companies, such as Gillette grooming products, to encourage men to get regular screening.

“This is having some appeal,” Bearse says. “It’s not as great as breast cancer has pulled, but we’re getting there.”

The right language
Jeanette Cassano, senior vice president at Princeton, N.J.-based American List Counsel, says the language in campaigns looking to target men needs to offer a “results-driven” message.

“In the acquisition piece, keep the copy short and to the point,” she says. “Succinctly state the cause or purpose of the organization and what effect will be obtained by giving a donation. For example, ‘a gift of $35 would allow X number of children to receive much needed food or inoculations.’ Some of the most effective premium offers are those that have a use and are practical, such as a yardstick for a group like Habitat for Humanity.”

Scott Wood, director of annual giving for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, echoes the importance of concise, targeted language.

“We’re unusual because we have almost equal men and women in our files,” Wood says.

Although the organization doesn’t necessarily target men specifically to donate, it has such a high number of male donors because it keeps its communication mission-based, he explains. A recent survey of NLEOMF supporters revealed key words that resonated especially well with them.

“These were not surprising,” Wood says. “Words like ‘hero,’ ‘heroes’ and ‘honor’ continually popped up. The idea of honor and duty [and] country resonates with men especially.”

Christine Weiser is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer and publisher of Philadelphia Stories, a nonprofit literary-arts publication.