Not to Be Rude ... but What's in It for Me?

Although the “AFP Fundraising Dictionary Online” doesn’t include an entry for “offer” (preferring “case”), it’s one of the three things that impacts results (the others being creative [copy and design] and audience) and something every fundraiser must wrestle with on an ongoing basis.

What, how, why?
Offers — reasons to give — first must tell the donor what the problem is, how it can be solved and why your organization is the best choice for solving it. Too often, we assume that the potential donor knows what we’re talking about. Take for example the current famine in the Horn of Africa. It’s massive. People are dying. But I have heard about it exactly one time in the media. I’ve received e-mails from several international development agencies about it, asking me to support their relief efforts, but between the economy, the country’s debt rating, fears about our retirement portfolios and early attention on the many presidential hopefuls, it’s easy to overlook a famine thousands of miles away.