Political ads are everywhere

Welcome to this week's LinkedIn-only excerpt of the Donor Participation Project newsletter! The Donor Participation Project is a community of 6,000+ fundraisers where you can network, learn, and advance your career.

OMG, election ads are everywhere! (If you're in the US.)

Texts, calls, ads... it's relentless!

It got me thinking: do we fundraisers have anything to learn from this communication onslaught?

Let me explain...

The idea behind all this exposure is to build trust and familiarity. But here's the thing: Sheer exposure is just ONE way to build trust.

And it has a threshold of effectiveness. If you're going to use this tactic, you have to go all in. We're talking MUCH larger budgets than most nonprofits have.

Doing "just a little" exposure? It rarely works.

So what's a fundraiser to do?

I spent the last 10 years studying trust-building strategies. These are the two best families of tactics I've come up with (because they're scalable, sustainable, and work in small doses):

1. Provide value to donors

• Share information
• Offer insights
• Give them something useful
• Help them feel valued and seen

2. Build community

• Get people together
• Make it purposeful
• Ensure it's participatory
• Make it recurring
• Identify volunteer leaders

The beauty of these approaches? They don't require Super PAC levels of funding.

Now, a quick word about ads (from my personal experience going for the 20% that will give 80% of the results):

• An ad will convert if it has an offer the audience finds valuable.
• Everything else is secondary.

Pro tip: Advertise content that's ALREADY converting well organically.

Got an event people are sharing like crazy? That's where your ad dollars should go.

It's almost impossible to spend your way to success (unless you have a HUGE budget). And here's the kicker: If you have a good offer-audience fit, everything else matters less. Yes, even that AI-optimized black-box magic that someone is trying to tell you is best practice.

So, as we swim through this sea of political messaging, let's ask ourselves:

Are we providing value? Are we building community? Are we focusing on what our audience actually wants?

Keep asking these questions!

Louis

Webinar

Finding Major Donors: A Practical Approach to Prospect Identification and Qualification [WEBINAR $80]

Worried about securing the first meeting with a major donor? I have this side-gig outside of Donor Participation Project where I get to work with the most amazing growing organizations and some next-level colleagues.

Amanda is one of them. She's prepared an incredibly practical, value-packed 60 minutes for development professionals who want to master the art of identifying, qualifying, and engaging high-potential donors.

This comprehensive session will equip you with practical strategies and proven methodologies to:

• Define and identify "good" prospects using the three key criteria: Inclination, Capacity, and Affinity
• Develop effective qualification strategies for both traditional and virtual environments
• Master the art of prospect outreach with tested call scripts and email templates
• Navigate common donor objections with confidence and professionalism
• Implement data-driven approaches to prospect pipeline management

Perfect for:

• Development Officers
• Major Gift Officers
• Advancement Professionals
• Nonprofit Leadership
• Development Directors

You'll leave this session with actionable tools including:

• Ready-to-use call scripts and email templates
• Pre-visit qualification checklists
• Strategic approaches to portfolio management
• Key performance metrics for tracking success
• Best practices for virtual donor engagement

Don't miss this opportunity to transform your major donor prospecting approach and maximize your development efforts. Space is limited to ensure an interactive learning experience.

Register now to secure your spot and take the first step toward building a more robust major donor pipeline.

Reserve Your Seat →

But wait! There's more...

Don't miss out on our:

• fundraising research
• community bulletin board
• peer group meetups
• AI tools
• resource library
• and more!

>> Get the full newsletter at joindpp.org <<

Have a great week,

Louis