Let’s get this out of the way: you probably don’t love face-to-face fundraisers. I get it—they can be persistent, even a little annoying. However, your digital content should be more like a face-to-face fundraiser’s work, because they are masters of storytelling.
F2F fundraisers inspire thousands of monthly donor sign-ups every day, out there in the real world. With nothing more than a charity t-shirt and an iPad, they look your donors in the eye and tell a story that gets people whipping out their credit cards right there on the street corner.
Love them or hate them, F2F fundraisers are inspiration machines.
This humble brag is really just me tooting my own horn (toot-toot). In a past life, I was the head of a national face-to-face program at an agency. But the purpose of my self-congratulatory trumpeting is to offer you a useful tool: the ‘emotional rollercoaster’. This is a storytelling structure used in all face-to-face pitches, and one that I still use daily as a digital content producer here at Parachute.
And one more thing: let’s retire the term “chuggers,” okay? It’s not just inaccurate, it’s unkind. Still in 2024, the F2F channel brings in 80-90% of all regular donors around the world. These fundraisers have the hardest job in fundraising, a job most of us wouldn’t, and couldn’t do, ourselves. Okay, soapbox moment over—let’s dive in.
Why Storytelling Matters in Digital Fundraising
Most people make decisions, especially donation decisions, based on emotion, rather than logic. If your donation ad, landing page, or eDM isn’t getting results, it’s likely because you’re not tapping into the right emotions. That’s where the storytelling rollercoaster technique used by face-to-face (F2F) fundraisers come into play.
Every F2F agency worldwide relies on a tried-and-true formula to turn strangers into regular donors in about seven minutes. This emotional roller coaster is the blueprint for great fundraising storytelling and works beautifully in digital too. Here’s how you can apply it to your digital fundraising campaigns:
1. Stopping: Grab Attention Instantly
F2F fundraisers know that the first challenge is simply to make someone stop to talk to them. Whether it’s a funny line, a clever icebreaker, or just looking approachable, the goal is to make people curious. In digital, this means stopping the scroll.
Ask yourself:
- Does your eDM subject line intrigue or bore?
- Does your video waste the first 10 seconds on wide shots of your office building?
- Is your donation page a wall of overwhelming text?
The key is to be visually and emotionally engaging right away, at a glance. Remember, if your content doesn’t immediately spark curiosity, excitement, or empathy—or worse, if it feels sketchy—people will scroll right past, or hit the BACK button.
2. Problem: Make Them Feel
Don’t just tell them the problem your organisation is solving; make them feel it. F2F fundraisers use body language, tone-of-voice, and words to make the problem visceral. In digital, you have even more tools, and you need them all to capture online attention.
- Emotive language: Use words like “awful,” “heartbreaking,” or “unthinkable.” Great fundraisers use adjectives to make their copy come to life. Flat copy gets flat emotive responses.
- Music and sound: Add emotive soundtracks and sound effects to your videos AND your image posts. Music is 100% emotional so adding the right song can massively improve your CTR and conversion
- Imagery: Pair your copy with images or videos that evoke sadness, anger, or empathy. Your beneficiaries feel real pain; you need to allow your donors to share in that pain, too.
Your organisation’s tone guidelines will set limits on how emotive you can be with your imagery, but don’t let this stop you. Creativity LOVES Constraints (that’s one of Shanelle’s favourite phrases). If you can’t emotionally move your audience about the problem, you’ll be spending your organisation’s money on fundraising that won’t work.
3. Solution: Deliver Hope
Once you’ve highlighted the problem, shift gears and give them HOPE. When talking about the incredible job you do at solving your beneficiaries’ problems, your content should sound as excited as a 25-year-old backpacking fundraiser on a travel trip in Byron Bay. 😉
- Switch to uplifting adjectives like “incredible,” “life-changing,” or “transformative.”
- Clearly show the happy ending of your work (bonus points for cute, fluffy animals or babies).
- Highlight the tangible impact their donation will have—UCG (user-generated content) is great here if you can source it!
4. Urgency: Act Now!
Without urgency, even your best donors may not feel the need to give NOW. In digital, you’re talking to well-intentioned potential donors – without urgency they too will procrastinate — and if they leave, they will probably never come back. You must give them a compelling reason to act (donate) immediately. Use phrases like:
- “Right now, people need your help.”
- “We’re running out of time.”
- “Urgent!”
Urgency isn’t just about deadlines; it’s about emphasising the immediacy of the need and how the donor can help contribute to solving it. Adding an urgent element can turn an underperforming donation page into a fundraising powerhouse.
5. Empowerment: Make It Personal
Here’s where you give donors the feel-good moment they’re looking for. F2F fundraisers excel at showing donors how their actions can create real change in the world.
To do this in digital channels, you should focus on:
- “You” language: “You can make the difference,” “Your gift will save lives.”
- Visualising outcomes: Show donors the future they’re helping to create. Images that show the problem they’re helping solve.
- Celebrating their role in the solution: Frame the donor as the heroes of the story.
Empowerment is what you are giving the donor in exchange for their money. You are selling them hope, a positive future, and warm-fuzzy feelings. You need to give them a taste of that feeling with your content BEFORE they donate.
6. Close: Ask, Confidently and Clearly
I’m sure you know this, but F2F fundraisers don’t just ask once—they ask several times, confidently and conversationally (if done well). Your digital campaigns should do the same – ask several times. If you don’t ask for a donation, you won’t get one.
- Include clear, bold, and simple calls-to-action (CTAs).
- Place your donation buttons prominently and repeat them throughout your pages and eDMs.
- Show people your donation form as quickly as possible. Remember, no one is offended by seeing a donation form at the top of your Chairty’s home page (yes, on your home page!) Everyone expects charities to ask for donations. However, potential donors will give up looking for a donation form if it’s hard to find.
Wrapping It Up
The structure F2F fundraisers use—Problem, Solution, Urgency, Empowerment, Close—is powerful because it connects with people on an emotional level. By using these techniques in your digital fundraising, you’ll create campaigns that don’t just inform but inspire action.
So, next time your eDMs aren’t being opened, or no one is donating on your website donation page, think like a F2F fundraiser and check what part of the Emotional Roller coaster are you missing?
The best fundraising isn’t just about asking for money—it’s about telling stories that move people to make a difference.
Ask us how for more tips on how you can improve your fundraising!