February 7, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Seth Godin, a marketing expert, breaks down people’s motivation to act — and give to charity.
“People take action (mostly) based on one of three emotions: Fear, hope, love,” he writes on his blog. “Every successful marketer (including politicians) takes advantage of at least one of these basic needs.”
Katya Andresen, vice president of marketing at Network for Good, writes that Mr. Godin’s simple, but effective, idea applies to nonprofit groups.
On her blog, she writes that fear may not be the best tool for fund raisers, but the other two emotions are essential.
“Everyone wants to feel hope, and we are all about hope in our field. I hope you are making hope a big part of the way you talk about your programs,” she writes.
And if a charity does a good job at fulfilling its goals and communicating with donors, people may even say they love an organization, she writes.
What do you think of the three emotions? How can nonprofit groups tap into hope and love? Click on the comment link below this post to share your thoughts.
