Don’t tell your aging donors to give a f___k

Yesterday I saw a design comp for a very cheeky donation landing page that made a play on the curse word that starts with f and ends with k. “Thank you for giving a flock.”

I laughed. But it was all wrong.

The fundraising audience for this client is less tattooed hipster on a fixie and more aging do-gooder who drives a Prius.

I get it. I love being clever and having fun with copy. But when you do so at the expense of your audience, you are not marketing. You are being self-indulgent.

We’re all excited about campaigning to engage Millennials. Engaging them now can help increase their loyalty and lifetime value. But we have to remember that a majority of our donors are actually Baby Boomers.

They have the largest spending power of any generation and more discretionary spending that they  funnel to causes they care about. Yet according to a recent study by Marketing Charts, 38% of Boomers say they do not see advertising that reflects older consumers.

Non profits need a multi-pronged generational strategy with a greater proportion of fundraising investment dedicated to Baby Boomers. If you tell them to give a “f___k,” they probably won’t.