Copywriting Magic Words

Using copying writing magic words to increase your nonprofit's donations

It’s been a few years since I’ve learned about Dr. Jennifer Shang and her important work at The Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. 


To my knowledge, she is the first and only person to have a doctorate degree in philanthropy which means - she runs lots of experiments to understand what makes donors give. 


For a fundraising geek like me, it’s my favorite. 


One of the most helpful experiments that Dr. Shang has run has to do with words. In fact, she uncovered that there are gender specific words that increase donations by as much as 10%. 


How crazy is that?


It means that if you know who your donors are (ie: dominated by women vs. men) - when you incorporate these very specific words into your copy - you can expect to see as much as a 10% increase in donations. 


I call this list the  “magic words” because where else can you increase your donations by 10% by just adding in some words?


Here is the list:


For women: 


  • Kind

  • Caring

  • Compassionate

  • Helpful

  • Friendly

  • Fair

  • Hard working

  • Generous 

  • Honest


For men: 


  • Strong

  • Responsible

  • Loyal



So, what does this mean in practice?


Now that you know what the magic words are, let’s put it all together. 


✅ What you DO what to do: Put a thoughtful sentence together using a magic word (or two):


“You have the power to be helpful to single mamas in the Atlanta area who are struggling to pay rent when you make a generous donation today.”


❌ What you DON’T want to do: Word fill a sentence with as many magic words as possible:


“Because of hard working and friendly volunteers like you - your kindness shines through and we appreciate your loyal and generous support.”


That’s it!


Are you going to give the ✨magic ✨ words a try?


copywriting, communicationJessica Campbellmagic words, copywriting1 Comment