For starters, we measure your stuff against two dozen vital professional and psychological criteria. It's full disclosure. Do you dare?
"OMG, just read your audit [of another Planned Parenthood communications program]. I love, love, love it. I wish I had met you about seven years ago. My communications pieces would be so much better." -- Keiren Havens, Vice President for Development and Community Relations, Planned Parenthood Maryland
"All in all, I think it is our best Briefing Book yet. Thank you again for all your great advice." -- Wendi Tilden, campaign coordinator for Michigan Environmental Council, submitted MEC's 2005 Briefing Book, the annual overview that defines issues for legislators and grassroots organizers. Sample of MEC audit.Are your fundraising, advocacy or other "persuasion" communications riddled with hidden flaws that limit their effectiveness? (Based on our extensive research, at least 90% of the time the answer will be yes.)
Now you can know ...
for sure ... whether your stuff actually works.
Subject your communications program to
the excruciating truth of an Ahern audit. For the first time, see your communications as they
should be seen: through donors' and other potential supporters' eyes.
It doesn't take long. It's surprisingly affordable. And we get deeply under the sofa cushions. [
Sample executive summary from 17-page community foundation audit.]
It's not subjective. It's science-ish.
Our unique diagnostic ev
aluates both writing and design, using measures that include science (such as Siegfried Vôgele's eye motion studies and Colin Wheildon's readability studies) as well as experience (what the direct mail industry has discovered about donor psychology) and expert opinion.
This audit catches what all other audits miss: the all-important psychological and subliminal factors that lead to increased response and donor retention.
Our audit is based on best practices gathered from the world's top experts. We ev
aluate dozens of key criteria and ask the important questions.
- Are you answering the three essential donor questions?
- Are your communications built for speed? (These days, they have to be.)
- Are you exploiting your "browser level" powerfully? Or at all? Are you exploiting the 7 visual elements that convey information at light speed?
- Are you confusing (to your detriment) activities with accomplishments?
- Have you framed your message correctly to achieve your goals? Or are you saying the wrong things to your target audience?
- Are you speaking to the heart? Have you enriched your communications with plenty of vitamin E-for-Emotion?
- Do your communications reach all four personality types? Or are you missing some big opportunities to connect, intrigue, interest, and inspire?
- Are your graphics turning readers on … or off?
And that's not all. Off the top of my head, even I can't remember everything that goes into one of my audits.
How long will your diagnostic take? How much will it cost?Compared to what's at stake, not much…as little as a few hours, costing just a few hundred dollars, for a review of, say, an issue of your donor newsletter.
A full audit, examining a complex communications program, can cost as much as $50K. Most, though, end up in the $10K-$25K range.
If you see this body language, don your armor. Translation: "You're selling, but I'm not buying. Nor will your donors."
