Stories have the power to move donors from thinking to feeling — and then to giving. But not just any story will do. It has to be powerful. It has to be emotionally resonant. It has to tap into the right motivations. And, ideally, it should be tailored to your audience.
That’s where personas come in. Personas quite literally help paint a picture of who your donors really are, why they care, and their motivations for giving. If you have any research on your audience, creating personas is a powerful way to humanize that data so that you have a more realistic picture of your donor segments.
Here’s an example for TrueSense’s food bank clients:
This is a high-level view. Ideally, each persona will include attributes and motivations for giving based on surveys, research and focus groups.
We recently shared the personas we developed for our animal welfare clients at a national conference. When I asked the audience of development professionals if these personas seemed familiar, I got a lot of nods. They should look familiar. This is your audience. These are your supporters. These are the folks who give to you time and time again, and who care deeply about the work you do.
Once you’ve developed personas, you’ll have the information you need to better tailor your messaging and stories in your fundraising.
What will that mean? Touched hearts. Better engagement. And more giving!
Want to know more about personas and how to use them as a tool for your storytelling? Contact me at: Jennifer.Miller@truesense.com
