Reports and Insights

Discover our unique methodologies to determine the drivers of donations and the effectiveness of charitable messaging. This work reveals where the non-profit sector has opportunities to touch more hearts and in so doing, drive greater results.

DonorBuilder™ is a groundbreaking North American study, which quantifies the importance of emotional appeal compared to rational appeal for driving donations.

EMOtivation™ is a study of charity communications, which explores and quantifies the specific emotions that work best to optimize the impact of charity messages.

EMOtivation™ Research Summary

Free

Learn about:

  • The latest research on non-profit communications
  • The most important drivers of donation intent
  • How to best leverage emotions in your communications
Click here for the full report.

EMOtivation™ Research Report

Free

What is in this report? This is a unique survey conducted in both Canada and The United States to assess the characteristics of charity advertisements, appeals, and promotional materials to learn which characteristics drove the most impact on people. It used real ad creative and measured the impact on people, and then evaluated many different characteristics so we could derive “what mattered”. A summary of this report is available here. What are the 3 major takeaways?
  1. The development of effective fundraising communications and appeals starts with understanding the key strategic drivers, namely: emotions & a sense of urgency.
  2. Charities are weaker at leveraging the importance of emotion and urgency.
  3. Charities should pre-test their communications & appeals before going public to ensure they only launch strong content to maximize the impact of their media investment.

Donor Appeal Research Summary

Free

Learn about:

  • The key drivers of greater fundraising success
  • The role of emotions for both donor acquisition and retention
  • A new model to measure, manage and optimize donor appeal

DonorBuilder: The Key Characteristics for Getting Higher Donations

Free

What is in this report? Why do people choose to give to one charity versus another? This report summarize survey research uncovering the true drivers of fundraising success. It offers key insights for charities to follow. Learn about the importance of emotional connections, urgency, and solicitation. These three elements rise higher in importance than trust, efficiency, and functional content. What are the 3 major takeaways?
  1. Charities need to build awareness, familiarity, and a positive image, but this is only the ‘price-of-entry’ in attracting a donation and are not the main drivers.
  2. The top emotional driver is creating a (perceived) sense of urgency to give. Urgency is what converts empathy into actions.
  3. Charities need to solicit donations, 90% of donations only come because of solicitation.

Millennial Insights Report

Free

Learn about millennial donors:

  • Patterns of giving
  • Attitudes toward charity
  • What drives them to give

Research Insights for Increased Giving

Free

Learn about:

  • How donors plan their giving
  • The importance of solicitation
  • Social norms for giving

The Philanthropic Conversation

Free

What is in this report? This is a helpful guide for Financial Advisors about philanthropy and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI). It is based on the unique research comprising two different groups and contrasts the results between them: (1) High Net Worth Individuals and (2) the Financial Advisors they use. This reports provides guidance for how to develop stronger philanthropic conversations. What are the 3 major takeaways?
  1. Wealthy Canadians are looking to their advisors to play a role, helping and advising them about charitable giving.
  2. Talking to clients about philanthropy can help Financial Advisors deepen their relationship as well as increase advisors’ business through new referrals to family, friends and colleagues.
  3. Such philanthropic discussion should occur much sooner in the relationship than most Advisors think.

DonorBuilder™ Custom Research

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Insights for your organization:

  • See how you compare to sector norms
  • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your donor appeal
  • Get actionable insights to help your organization improve fundraising success

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