Giving Compass' Take:

• Derrick Feldmann, writing for PhilanTopic, discusses how to give supporters an identity and build commitment to an organization. 

• How can this help nonprofits get donors to connect with organizational missions? 

• Read about how philanthropy can help advance feedback. 

In their desire to give voice to the vulnerable and underserved in society, most cause-driven organizations fail to include their supporters in the equation. By failing to do so, they are denying others a golden opportunity to see themselves in the same light.

If you've been reading my articles here on PhilanTopic, you know how important I think it is for supporters and potential supporters of a cause to know that others believe in the same cause and are actively doing something to advance it. The reinforcement of belief is a powerful factor in deepening an individual's involvement in a cause or issue and in creating a powerful sense of identity among a group of like-minded people

Your messaging should play a dual role: articulate purpose and give voice. Purpose in narrative makes it clear what supporters can do and why they should do it. Voice captures who and what they believe in, in stories that resonate because they see themselves in those stories.

This is how supporters, not your cause or organization, become identified with a cause. Here are a few other tips:

  1. Listen to your supporters and then share with them what they told you.
  2. Capture and share images of your supporters in all your messaging.
  3.  When you don't have anything new to share, share stories of people engaged in the cause.

By sharing the stories of supporters of the broader cause, you'll be helping to build and sustain the movement even as you're recruiting new people to it.

Read the full article about giving a voice and identity to your supporters by Derrick Feldmann at PhilanTopic.