Education

Donor Letters – Using Stories To Enhance Statistics

Who wants to read about numbers? Unless, of course, you’re a mathematician or something but for the average person, namely donors, they don’t necessarily want to open a donation letter and be bombarded with statistics – it tends to make their eyes glaze over and, more often than not, stop reading. What’s the solution? Well, you need to capture their hearts and imagination with stories, real or fictional that encompass your statistics.
Say you have a statistic such as the one according to UNICEF that 210,000 children under the age of 5 die each day due to poverty. That’s a very sobering fact and one that would definitely get the reader’s attention but to keep their attention, you need more. A statistic such as this would warrant a pretty powerful story to back it up. For instance, if using fiction you could describe a typical African child and the conditions she endures in a village that your organization has a presence in. Explain why the child is dying and what she needs specifically to survive.
Another example could be one derived from the reality that nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. This is another staggering statistic that needs expansion with story. Again, you could use an actual case study or fiction. If using fiction I would suggest using a generalized individual or population such as children in a South American region that long to go to school but must work collecting garbage for money for their families instead. You can imagine that very situation clearly with that one statement so take it even further with specifics.
These examples I’ve used address large issues. Your statistics, of course, don’t need to be on this scale. Use what you have. If you are writing on behalf of a local food bank, use statistics and case studies unique to your organization. Your statistics could announce positives as well such as how many additional families were fed this winter compared to last following up with story and explaining what worked. However, if you do use more downbeat data, make sure to always follow up with positives.
Imagery and descriptive words are extremely important if you are to appeal to emotion. Don’t be afraid to use those adjectives. Describe that choking dust in the village in Angola or the dirty needle the child in the garbage dump in Guatemala examined. On the other side of the spectrum you can depict the smiling faces of those four kids from the west side of town when their mom carved that juicy food bank turkey this Christmas. There are countless stories just waiting to be plucked from all those numbers. You just have to sit back and let them come.

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