Stop relying on themes to engage your donors

It’s the annual fundraising gala. On one wall of an elegantly decked out hall, a banner reads: “Celebrating forty years of progress.” Throughout the evening, various speakers make references to this special number – the organization is over the hill, the organization has finished wandering the desert and is finally ready to arrive in the Promised Land.

The centerpieces are wire sculptures in the shape of the number forty. The video features participants cheerfully toasting, “To another forty years!”

Forty, forty, forty is hammered home from every angle.

It’s a theme that no one will be able to forget. And yet, I believe, it’s still fundamentally missing the mark.

Why do nonprofits love themes?

Themes aren’t just a feature of dinners. I’ve seen themes used as the organizing principle of crowdfunding pages, email updates… pretty much anywhere a nonprofit is trying to make a splash.

The goal is of course to be memorable. A theme provides a point of focus—simple, catchy, repeatable. It can be cute, a source of puns and silly wordplay, or it can be serious and symbolic. “Spring into action!” is paired with flower décor. At a dinner honoring the “trailblazers” for a cause, the donation page features images of cars and the road. A fundraiser at the city’s major sports arena (with celebrity athletes in attendance) invites guests to “dunk on diabetes!”

After all, keeping donors interested is a challenge. When you reach out to them, you want to make sure that you continually stand out. In fact, the longer they’re with you, the more you might worry that your pitch has gone stale. You don’t want every dinner and campaign and ask to feel the same – you want it to come from a fresh, new angle. You want everyone to leave feeling glad that they came.

But does a theme achieve this?

Trust your message

The problem with relying on a theme to retain the interest of your donors is that a theme doesn’t speak to any of the reasons that they care about your organization in the first place.

Donors don’t look to you to be entertained. They want to know that you’re having an impact that makes their investment worthwhile.

A theme is window dressing. It’s a shiny coat of paint. Even when it’s supposed to reflect something meaningful about the organization, it rarely does so in a consequential way. Going back to the example from before, a forty-year milestone is incredible – but not because of the size of the number. It’s what’s been achieved during those decades that makes them something to celebrate.

If you focus on superficial details over substance, a theme can come across as kitschy and even insecure. Instead of talking about your latest successes, you’re putting filler at the forefront.

You don’t want people walking away remembering the number forty. You want them to walk away feeling moved by your history and fully committed to helping you continue into the future.

Staying relevant

If you want to keep things fresh, I recommend sharing the latest news – your most recent project, or a brand-new success story. There are plenty of details you can talk about that give new insight without veering away from what really matters.

Think back to the last time you went all-in on a theme. Do you feel like it made a strong impression on guests or site visitors? Were donors responding to the theme, or to something else?

In my experience, substance is what wins loyalty. If you’re ready to rethink your communications strategy with this in mind, I’d be happy to consult.