You never can tell where inspiration will come from, can you? I mean, who would’ve thought that some Prudential TV ads would offer up inspiration for nonprofits and fundraising. But they did!
Indeed, Prudential did a series of T.V. ads using data visualization and behavioral economics to encourage specific actions like saving for retirement or thinking about the future or paying yourself to do what you love. You’ll note a general theme of thinking differently about retirement but each ad has its own slant on that.
This is the ad to which I want to draw your attention. It shows how tiny investments in your retirement account can add up to big retirement savings.
What do TV ads by a big financial institution and dominoes have to do with your nonprofit and fundraising? Possibly a lot.
Nonprofits dream of many things, among them an individual giving program that has a stream of recurring monthly donations flowing in. You frequently see messaging about how every little bit counts and it adds up. Makes perfect sense. It’s good for the organization and makes it easier on the donor because the payments are spaced out.
And yet nonprofits still struggle to develop an individual giving program with lots of monthly donations. What’s the disconnect?
Maybe it’s the delivery. Meaning, maybe nonprofits aren’t making it easy enough for their dear donors to see and feel and instantly get why those little monthly donations mean oh so very much. It’s one thing to explain the logic. Quite another to drive the point home.
Enter the Prudential ad. By using dominoes, they make the “a little bit can ad up to a whole heckuva lot” point so clearly.
Now, before you start shaking your head and mumbling things like, “But, Erica, we don’t have the money to spend on an ad like this.” No, you likely don’t. But you do have access to tools like Canva and LiveStories, which make it easy peasy to take data and turn it into something inspiring and actionable.
And you likely have a smart phone. Video doesn’t need to be highly produced. It needs good audio and to be authentic.
Be inspired and go out and inspire others. #ALittleIsALot
***Inspired to learn more about how you can tell great stories about your organization? Check out Claxon University!***