The appealing appeal

What makes an appeal ... well ... appealing?

Whether it's aiming at advocacy, funding, or any other call to action, what's the difference between an appeal that generates the desired response, and one that doesn't?

I'll mention three such appeals that I received just yesterday.

  1. A friend asked me personally if I would show up in the evening to help set up the stage for their performance.

  2. A very likable and energetic stranger phoned and emailed me to ask for my support in advertising at a local business that I happen to like.

  3. Another friend tagged me in a Facebook message pointing to a GoFundMe page.

Honestly, these were all people I wanted to help.

But what actually happened?

I agreed to the first one;
declined the second;
and am still on the fence about the third.

Besides what I've previously mentioned about probably having used up my budget of care, I can see other reasons why I agreed to only one of these three requests:

  • I believed my help would make a positive impact.

  • I felt that I was being personally asked to help; and that, if I declined, they might not have enough help to meet the need.

  • I believed that with my help they could actually reach a particular goal.

  • I believed I would get something I value (doing a favor for someone I know and like) more than what I'd be giving.

Some of those were true for all the requests. But all of them were true only of the one.

Here's the thing:

When you ask someone for help, there's a good chance they have plenty of other opportunities to do good in the world.

They're probably even being asked for help from any number of other directions.

And they probably won't agree to help all of them.

What then can you do to make your appeal stand out?

What makes your request specifically worthy of their help, and of their time, attention, and care?

The "right" answers will of course depend on whatever you know (or can learn) about your people, your cause, and your way of working.

But in any case, it's surely much more involved than simply informing them that the need exists.

All the best,
A.

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The map is not the territory

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The limited budget for caring