I virtually made a foolish mistake.
I used to be giving somebody path on a fundraising letter, and got here to a bulleted checklist. The bullets weren’t dots, however little musical notes: 🎵. (It was an arts group).
I received a slight “ew” response to it, and was about to recommend a change to “regular” trying bullets.
Wait a second.
The place did that “ew” come from?
Nicely, these little notes struck me as “corny.” Needlessly cute. Not severe.
If me or learn my writings on fundraising in any respect, you would possibly a step or two forward of me: I ceaselessly defend “corny” in fundraising. Certainly one of my books (The Fundraiser’s Information to Irresistible Communication) I make an enormous deal about how fundraising messages ought to be plain, corny, and apparent.
So why did I virtually take away some “corny” from a fundraising message?
Possibly it was too corny?
I hope that wasn’t it. Right here’s me talking at a convention, with my phrases projected giant-size behind me:
That’s proper, you actually can’t be too corny.
However you would be inappropriate.
These cute little notes in a message about struggling, ache, and tragedy … that might be fallacious. It might undermine the message.
I used to be making use of that “inappropriate” filter within the fallacious place.
So right here’s my “new” rule about such issues:
Corny is nice. It’s by no means an issue. Issues that conflict with the temper or message — unhealthy. Take a second to ask your self whether or not one thing is inappropriate or merely corny, as a result of it may be exhausting to inform the distinction. Revise what’s inappropriate. Depart what’s corny.
And needless to say your individual sense of “style” doesn’t actually information you to something useful in fundraising.