Slides from my new Psychology of Giving Training course. Please contact me if you would like me to run the course for you

1. The Psychology of Giving
&
Persuasive Writing
Techniques
Jon Matthews

2. Learning Objectives:
1. What is the relevance of psychology in funding
applications
2. Understand what motivates people to give
3. How to use psychology in writing application
4. Learn different writing techniques to gain support

3. Why it Matters

4. We make decisions based
on emotion and use logic to
justify the decision
Antonio Damasion

5. Has a use beyond Direct
Mail

6. You are appealing to a person not machine

7. No set formula

8. Make your bid more
appealing

9. Emotion makes decisions, logic justifies it!
You must get an emotional attachment to the reader
Remember you are writing to a person
Write as you would speak to someone
Don’t over write the proposal
You still need to have a good project!
Practical tips

10. What motivates
people to give?

11. Make a
strong
claim
What is
your
benefit

12. In one or two sentences
clearly state the aim of your
project or organisation
“People with physical impairments do not have
equality in society and deprived of opportunities
available to others. We address this by helping them
secure their correct benefit entitlement”

13. Be credible

14. Because……………

15. Who backs you?

16. If…. Then……………

17. £5

18. Nearly there……..

19. Practical tips……
Ensure you have a simple, clear description of your
work
Get good, relevant statistics to support your claim
Make yourself credible – endorsements, backers
Because… (give reasons)
Give consequence of action AND inaction
Demonstrate that your solution will prevent loss/prevent
something adverse
The easiest projects to fund are those that others have
already funded – add value to them
Build on inertia – who else is supporting you

20. “I’m sure you would agree
that people want to be
consistent”
If you can get your reader to agree to a
statement that supports your
argument, they are more likely to
support a later ask for donation.

21. Blood Donor drive…
“We’ll count on seeing you on
the day then”
Wait for a
response…………….
Turn up rate normally 62%;
81%

22. 17% 76%

23. Use emotion

24. GUILTYGUILTY

25. My mom was diagnosed with
MS five years ago
APPEAL A You hear a
knock at your door and
open it to find a young
woman with a clipboard.
She says, “Good afternoon,
I’m volunteering with The
Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation. I’d like to tell
you about the work we are
doing to find a cure. Do you
have a few minutes to talk?”
APPEAL B You hear a
knock at your door and
open it to find a young
woman with a clipboard.
She says, “Good afternoon,
I’m volunteering with The
Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation. My mom was
diagnosed with MS five
years ago. I’d like to tell you
about the work we are doing
to find a cure. Do you have
a few minutes to talk?

26. People don’t want to appear
disrespectful
We want to be liked

27. Practical tips
Start with a statement that people will find hard to
disagree with that is relevant to your cause
Relate arguments to this statement and back it up with
facts/ figures
State who else support you
Say how you are connected to the project/ charity
Explain why you have approached the funder:
imilar aims/ objectives
ou note they have funded similar organisation / projects

28. Your turn
For a made up/ real project write a short paragraph that
Makes initial claim
Backs this up with facts / endorsements
Says why the work is important to you
Why you are applying to this charity

29. Feelings and Imagination

30. Ask questions
BUT, too many will confuse and
make it look like you don’t know

31. Social Norms
Looking for guidance from others as
to what to do and what to accept is
one of the most powerful
psychological forces in our lives

32. Identifiable Victim Effect
People are more generous to an individual that a group
People
decline to
do what
they can do
because
they feel
bad about
what they
can't do.

33. Priming

34. Act now!
What are the
consequences
of not giving?
Beware of guilt!

35. The most effective technique
“But you are free”

36. Ask reader to imagine how ‘victim’ would feel, rather
then how they would feel
Ask questions “How many people are we missing”;
Make reader feel they are missing out by not supporting
you; let them know their peers are supporting you; you’ve
raised xx% already
Tell the reader that other people value your work
Include a case study – the Identifiable Victim Effect
Ensure the solution is proportional to the scale of the
problem
Be enthusiastic, ‘we are excited about this……’
Practical tips

37. People respond to what other give; so don’t sell yourself
short
Thank you for giving the time to consider our application
Give a sense of urgency

38. Your turn
Make up a short case study to
stir emotions of reader
And pose question to reader to
make them support your cause
Finally ask for a donation

39. Persuasive language

40. What are the five more
persuasive words in the English
Language?
You Because
Free Instantly New

41. Vocabulary
Descriptive:
Freezing / Cold
Sprinted / Run
Action/
uplifting
words:
Also…
Free, now, new,
you

42. Adjectives of a moral person
Kind
Caring
Compassionate
Helpful
Friendly
Fair
Hard-working
Generous
Honest
Strong
Responsible
Loyal
Using two or three of
these words increased
giving by 10%

43. Emphasis
A really positive,
memorable and
brilliant way to do
this is to group
adjectives to make
them stand out
Repetition
Say it again
Repeat it
And Once more for luck
Do this to make sure reader really gets
the point you are making

44. What would you change?
“I believe that my background, experiences, and
cultural upbringing would be a valuable addition to the
University of Londons’ diverse student body.”
“I know that my background, experiences, and cultural
upbringing will be a valuable addition to the University
of London’s diverse student body.”

45. Imagine that you are walking near a shallow ornamental
pond when you notice that a small child has fallen in, and
is apparently in danger of drowning. You look around for
the child's caregiver, but there is no one in sight. Without
pausing even to pull off the expensive pair of shoes you
are wearing, you rush into the water to save the child.
You don't have to be a hero to do that. We expect it of you.
You'd have to be a monster to put the cost of your shoes
ahead of saving the child's life.
Or would you?
UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, tells us that
nearly 10 million children under 5 die each year from
causes that we could prevent. That's 27,000 children dying
every day. They die from diseases that are easy and
inexpensive to prevent or treat, or from the lack of safe
drinking water, sanitation and an adequate diet.
GiveWell.net, an organization that assesses the cost-
effectiveness of aid, suggests that for something like the
cost of a pair of expensive shoes, you could save the life
of one of these children.

46. Imagine that you are walking near a shallow
ornamental pond
when you notice that a small child has fallen in, and is apparently
in danger of drowning. You look around for the child's caregiver,
but there is no one in sight.
Without pausing even to pull off the expensive pair of shoes you
are wearing, you rush into the water to save the child.
You don't have to be a hero to do that.
We expect it of you. You'd have to be a monster to put the cost of
your shoes ahead of saving the child's life.
Social Norm

47. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund,
tells us that nearly 10 million children under 5 die each
year from causes that we could prevent. That's 27,000
children dying every day.
They die from diseases that are easy and inexpensive to
prevent or treat, or from the lack of safe drinking water,
sanitation and an adequate diet.
GiveWell.net, an organization that assesses the cost-
effectiveness of aid,
suggests that for something like the cost of a pair of
expensive shoes, you could save the life of one of these
children.
Credibility
Statistics to back up claim
The problem and suggests solution
Who they are
Call to action

48. Direct address; ie you / we
Alliteration
Facts and statistics
Opinions
Rhetorical questions
Emotive language

49. Save the children

50. Graham Norton parkinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q09WRerhgzQ