#34: 5 behavioural economics principles you can't afford to ignore, with Nate Andorsky

04/21/21 • 45 min

What compels donors to say yes?
That’s the question most nonprofit fundraisers and marketers are trying to find answers for. Because understanding how people make decisions is a key part in making our fundraising more effective.
We've talked about how behavioural economics can help your fundraising on this podcast before, but many of you said this was a topic you wanted to know more about. So, today's guest is Nate Andorsky, the CEO of Creative Science — a digital agency that applies behavioural economics and technology to help mission-driven organizations grow their impact in the world.
Nate uses donor psychology and big data to get a better understanding of how donors behave. He wrote Decoding the Why, which has a wealth of nonprofit examples of his research.
Today, Nate is going to walk us through five essential theories you can apply in your fundraising today. Listen along to hear five tested and proven principles that come out of the field of behavioural economics and have the power to compel more people to say yes.

Today we’ll cover:

[4:43] - The difference between system 1 and system 2 thinking
[7:35] - Shortcut #1: The Affect Heuristic
[9:23] - What a sludge is
[9:57] - How to present data without taking away its emotional power
[14:07] - Shortcut #2: The Ambiguity Aversion
[18:44] - Shortcut #3: The Certainty Effect
[23:28] - Shortcut #4: The Closeness Effect
[33:24] - Being careful with stereotypes
[36:10] - Shortcut #5: Framing
[41:34] - Nate’s encouragement for nonprofit marketers, leaders, and fundraisers

Get connected:

Nate would love to connect with you. You can find him on Linkedin or email him at [email protected]. You can find out more about the work he does at creativescience.co and get his book Decoding the Why on Amazon.

Please consider subscribing to, rating, or sharing the BuildGood Podcast on your preferred platform. You can do that by clicking here.

To take advantage of our free resources and get your 5-minute fundraising fix, visit: fiveminutefundraisingfix.com

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Today we’ll cover:

Get connected:

Please consider subscribing to, rating, or sharing the BuildGood Podcast on your preferred platform. You can do that by clicking here.

To take advantage of our free resources and get your 5-minute fundraising fix, visit: fiveminutefundraisingfix.com

Previous Episode

#33 — 7 productivity hacks to become a more effective fundraiser and leader with Rachel Bearbower

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We all struggle with productivity.

There are so many distractions and interruptions that kill our productivity — emails, Slack messages, calendar notifications, text and social media alerts. And it seems like the more successful our nonprofit and career becomes, the harder it is to get things done.

Today on the podcast, we're talking to Rachel Bearbower who thinks about productivity a lot.

Rachel works specifically with small-shop CEOs and fundraisers. These are people who wear multiple hats at all times, whose work is not always focused, and who get pulled in a thousand different directions every day.
Maybe you can relate.

Rachel is the founder of Small Shops Strategies, where she helps fundraisers deal with the overwhelm by creating repeatable systems and processes. Today, Rachel is going to share 7 productivity hacks that can help all of us become more productive at work, feel less anxiety, get more done and have more peace of mind.

Today we’ll cover:

[4:35] - Why Rachel prefers working with small shops
[7:48] - Productivity Hack #1 - Turn off all notifications
[13:30] - Productivity Hack #2 - Start your day with a clean workspace
[16:00] - Productivity Hack #3 - Brain Dump all your To-Do’s
[17:50] - Productivity Hack #4 Determine the order you want to get things done
[24:10] - Productivity Hack #5 - Do the hardest thing first
[25:42] - Productivity Hack #6 - Set a timer
[28:30] - Productivity Hack #7 - Create clear goals and write them down
[33:00] - The Power of Consistency
[37:04] - Rachel's encouragement for nonprofit leaders, fundraisers and marketers
Get connected:
Rachel would love to connect with you on Instagram. You can also find more information about her membership program, Productive Executive Director, at smallshopstrategies.com/beproductive

Please consider subscribing to, rating, or sharing The Build Good Podcast on your preferred platform. You can do that by clicking here.

To take advantage of our free resources and get your 5-minute fundraising fix, visit fiveminutefundraisingfix.com

Next Episode

#35—How to build a successful monthly giving program with Harvey McKinnon

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How would you like to have over 25% of your revenue come in automatically, on repeat, month after month, in a stable and predictable manner?
Today's guest is going to show you how to do it.
Harvey McKinnon is the master of monthly giving. He's helped thousands of organizations raise billions of dollars in monthly gifts by starting and growing lucrative monthly giving programs.
His latest book, How to Create Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving, teaches nonprofits how to build a low cost revenue stream you can count on year in and year out.
On today's show, Harvey is going to walk through how you can grow a lucrative monthly giving program or improve the existing program you have in place.

Today we’ll cover:

[3:54] - The benefits of a monthly giving program
[8:43] - How to tell if an organization is ready for a monthly donor program
[10:28] - How to find the right offer and ask amount
[16:49] - Asking for donations with direct mail
[21:26] - Is the phone an effective way to convert monthly donors
[27:32] - Specialized email campaigns for monthly giving
[32:00] - Strategies for upgrades
[34:20] - Should you include your monthly donors in your ongoing direct mail campaigns
[37:56] - The common problems monthly giving programs face
[41:36] - Harvey's encouragement for nonprofit leaders
To take advantage of our free resources and get your 5-minute fundraising fix, visit: fiveminutefundraisingfix.com