The Fluency Gap: Why Beautiful Campaign Materials Aren’t Enough
Your campaign has stunning materials, a compelling case statement, and a beautiful website. Still, your major gift officers are coming back with mediocre gifts — gifts that feel “dutiful” rather than transformational. The problem isn’t your communications—it’s the fluency gap.
Originally published on The Giving Institute, this article tackles a challenge we see constantly: the chasm between what your campaign stands for and what your team can actually articulate in unscripted donor moments. Beautiful brochures can’t compensate for teams that can’t connect campaign priorities to individual donor motivations on the fly.
The real issue? Major gift officers who talk features when they should paint futures, who pitch projects when they could invite partnership in transformation. The solution isn’t better elevator speeches—it’s building team capacity to listen for donor motivations and adapt messaging in real time.
Read the full article on The Giving Institute’s site to explore practical steps for closing your organization’s fluency gap.
Doug Diefenbach | Vice President, Strategy & Brand
Before becoming Foster Avenue’s main message strategist and editorial lead, Doug spent more than 35 years helping a wide range of major institutions articulate and exceed their goals for strategic alignment, brand visibility, constituent engagement, and philanthropic revenue. Doug has led both campaign planning and communications in both consultant and staff executive roles. (Fun fact: Doug founded, led, and for years performed at an improv comedy theater in Chicago — an affliction that still surfaces from time to time.)
