Photos: Omar Lopez and (insert) Berkley Communications, on Unsplash
The material on this webpage is for people with at least three years’ trust fundraising experience.
Saying difficult things to trusts
Saying things where you think they might just be prejudiced against you
As discussed in the webpage on trustees, you might just find particular viewpoints amongst trustees that wouldn’t be shared by your charity, and vice versa. As mentioned in the webpage on staffing, there are reports from within trusts and some wider evidence that trusts don’t always listen well. How do you communicate something you need to share, that goes against their worldview? The following are just my own ideas, not based on any study:
1. Distinguish the situation as unusual
This is really going around their worldview. There’s no need for them to confront their views of the world head on.
2. Make your point very common sense in nature
Persuasive ideas are not merely right, they seem right. Also, something which is unusual and common sense in an area of interest to you is genuinely interesting.
3. Make the evidence incontrovertible
A lot of the arguments we see in our sector are pretty thin: a reference to something which is sort of relevant and then an assumption. That’s fine for the many situations when we’re being treated by the trust as the experts, but not when you have to go against their views.
Ways forward might be:
- Unarguable stats
- Direct quote from an authoritative support
- Clear eye witness statements, e.g., “In four years of running programmes, our Somali sports charity has never had a woman come forwards to take part in a mixed sports session.”
4. If you can, make it human
Persuasion is about emotion as well as logic. If you can move people, that’s always worth considering.