To Motivate with Your Words, Understand Their Fear and Desire

Microcontent and conversion copywriting are two of the seven styles of nonprofit writing that we teach here at Nonprofit Marketing Guide.

To get people to act, your words need to connect with people’s emotions, namely fear or desire.

Fear isn’t just about being scared, but also includes things that produce worry and anxiety. Fear can look like problems, questions, roadblocks, anguish, injustice, things we want to avoid, and things we are afraid we might lose and therefore want to protect.

On the more positive side, desire can also look like many different things too, including hopes, dreams, pleasure, comfort, what we want to get, and what we could gain.

But what do fear or desire really look like in our supporters and others that our nonprofits are communicating with?

Here are some ideas to get you thinking.

In the nonprofit sector, fear within our communities can look like: 

• losing certain rights
• cuts in spending
• isolation or loneliness
• lack or loss of resources, access, or essentials
• injustice or unfairness (or the -isms)
• threats
• extinction
• losing control
• anxiety about something coming up
• confusion
• suffering
• long waits
• stress
• negative changes

In the nonprofit sector, desire within our communities can look like:

• connections
• inclusion
• rescues
• protection
• safety
• joy
• equity
• peace
• justice
• health
• satisfaction
• belonging
• kindness
• prompt response
• new opportunities
• wellness
• positive changes

As you are drafting the content for landing pages, forms, and emails where you want clicks and conversions, work toward language that makes some of these fears or desires clear.