3 words for your fundraising dictionary

Learn Aristotle's 3 persuasion words--pathos, ethos, logos--for fundraising that really works.

Have you heard of "audience capture"?

It's when a person (typically an artist, performer, or influencer) is shaped almost entirely by the feedback from their audience. Instead of doing what they feel ought to be done, the person does only what they feel the audience thinks should be done. The person has been "captured" by their audience. They are no longer truly themselves.

I bring this up because it's a term I recently learned and it's a good example of how helpful it can be to have the right vocabulary so you can think more clearly about things.

In other words, now that I know the term "audience capture," I'm more likely to notice it in action, understand it, talk about it, think about it, avoid it, and so on.

Vocabulary matters.

I'd say this is also the case with the following...

3 words for your fundraising dictionary

I'm talking about pathos, ethos, and logos.

Aristotle divided the art of persuasion (rhetoric) into:

1. Pathos ❤️ (heart/emotion)

   • E.g., humor, puppies, children, romantic love, suffering

2. Ethos 🙏 (soul/credibility)

   • E.g., resumes, experts, titles, degrees, endorsements

3. Logos 🧠 (mind/logic)

   • E.g., data, facts, figures, charts, logical arguments

To be persuasive, Aristotle advised, use a combination of the above.

Not all "appeals" are created equal . . .

• A solar energy sales pitch at a trade show needs more logos.
  Particularly: specifications. Persuasion via numbers.
• A Sunday sermon needs more ethos.
  Particularly: citing scripture. Persuasion via an appeal to authority.
• A Cheetos commercial during the Super Bowl needs more pathos. Particularly: humor. (Also, napkins for orange Cheeto dust fingertips.) Persuasion via heart.

Fundraising appeals likewise need more pathos. Particularly: emotion.

This is in part because fundraising appeals tend to reach people when they’re busy. Donors may be in the middle of something: a work task, a chore, a discussion. They love your organization, but their mind is elsewhere.

Also, you don’t have the luxury of a captive audience.

• Your donors aren’t at a trade show browsing your table.
• They aren’t on their couch watching your commercial on tv.
• They aren’t in pews in your church, facing you, listening intently.

You only have a few seconds to grab your donors’ attention as they go through their mail or their email.

How can you shift their limited attention to your urgent need?

With pathos. Lots of it.

(Donors who feel more care more and give more.)

But you do need all three: pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos is the cake. Pathos is also the frosting. Ethos and logos are the sprinkles on top!

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[Originally published in our free book, Heartable Fundraising Writing.]