Language Matters: The Words that Move
What motivates people to give?
A 2025 study from the University of Michigan analyzed more than 14,000 GoFundMe campaigns to uncover new insights about how fundraising language shapes donor behavior. The research explored how different types of “moral framing” — specifically what language was used in fundraising appeals — influenced donations, donor engagement, and supporter comments across fundraising categories.
The findings are eye-opening for anyone navigating disaster response, humanitarian fundraising, emergency appeals, and crisis communications.
And they reinforce something many fundraisers have experienced firsthand for years: Donors respond when they clearly understand that people are in danger and donations can change the outcome. For us, the key is helping donors understand the reality of a situation without overstating it. The strongest fundraising reflects people's experiences honestly while showing how support can make a meaningful difference.
The researchers in this study examined three primary categories of language:
Care: protecting people from harm, safety, compassion
Fairness: injustice, inequity, unfair treatment
Loyalty: belonging, community, shared identity
Across emergency-related campaigns, “care-focused” and “fairness-focused” language consistently drove stronger response rates, especially when messaging communicated danger, vulnerability, urgency, or injustice.
Campaigns framed around harm and protection generated:
More donations
More supporter comments
Stronger overall engagement
That pattern appeared most clearly in emergency fundraising compared to other campaign categories — specifically memorial, medical, and animal-focused fundraisers.
“Care” Language Performs Differently Than You Might Assume
One of the most interesting findings in the study centered on “care” language. Researchers found that emergency appeals using "negative" care framing by emphasizing harm and vulnerability generated more donations and comments than appeals using "positive" care framing focused on safety, compassion, and protection.
That distinction matters because it’s easy to interpret “care” messaging as gentle. In practice, the highest-performing emergency messaging communicated, risk, vulnerability, and instability.
But instead of amplifying fear or portraying people only through their hardship, we see this finding as support for describing the realities people are facing clearly enough for donors to understand why their support is urgently needed. People deserve to be seen as members of families and communities rather than recipients of aid. Language that reflects those relationships creates stronger fundraising and more authentic storytelling.
Consequence-based language helps donors clearly see that their support can change conditions for someone facing immediate hardship. Our goal here is accuracy and authenticity. Specific details about real conditions often create more urgency than broad or exaggerated descriptions ever could.
This resonates with something we have seen again and again — campaigns that clearly communicate both emotional concern and practical usefulness inspire response.
We have found that strong emergency fundraising often answers three questions very quickly:
What is happening?
Why does it matter right now?
What does my support accomplish?
When those answers are missing, appeals often feel emotionally flat or interchangeable with every other crisis message competing for attention. For example, compare these approaches:
1. “Communities impacted by deadly flooding urgently need your support.”
2. “Families are running out of clean water after recent flooding, and emergency deliveries are struggling to reach remote areas.”
The second example creates clarity around:
What happened
Who is affected
What challenge exists
Why support matters immediately
That level of specificity gives donors something concrete to emotionally process and act upon.
More Donors Doesn’t Always Mean Larger Gifts
The study also surfaced an important fundraising tension.
Emergency campaigns using harm- and injustice-centered framing often generated more donations overall, but average gift amounts sometimes decreased.
That finding mirrors what many nonprofits experience during rapid-response fundraising moments. Strong urgency widens participation. More people step in quickly because the need feels immediate and emotionally pressing.
Researchers pointed to an interesting behavioral theory here: some people may give quickly to relieve emotional discomfort once they understand the seriousness of a situation. Others may give smaller amounts because they assume many other people are also contributing.
We noticed right away that this has important strategic implications. Driving an immediate response is only part of effective fundraising. Building lasting trust requires messaging that donors recognize as honest, respectful, and grounded in reality.
High-volume emergency fundraising requires strong follow-up systems. The first gift is just the beginning of the relationship when we do it right. Organizations should think carefully about:
Follow-up timing
Impact reporting
Stewardship cadence
Retention planning
Conversion strategies for emergency-acquired donors
At Fuse, we often see organizations focus intensely on the launch of an emergency campaign while underestimating the importance of the post-gift experience. The strongest programs sustain donor momentum after the initial crisis moment passes.
This research reinforces the importance of an audience-led approach, which should always be kept top of mind. Emergency donors are often motivated by a specific crisis rather than a deep connection to the organization's broader mission. That means retention is not just about additional asks … it requires a thoughtful donor journey that helps supporters understand the ongoing impact of their support and how the immediate need connects to long-term change.
Organizations that successfully convert emergency donors into long-term supporters are those that intentionally bridge crisis-driven giving into deeper mission engagement through tailored stewardship, impact reporting, and cultivation.
Loyalty Language Works
The study also found that “loyalty” framing performed consistently well across all categories.
Messaging tied to community, shared identity, and belonging helped campaigns attract support broadly. That finding aligns closely with long-standing donor psychology research showing that people are more likely to support causes where they feel emotionally connected and personally invested.
This matters because emergency fundraising works best when urgency and belonging work together. An emergency appeal may focus heavily on immediate protection and response. Stewardship communications can then reinforce community, partnership, and long-term impact.
And that’s where a focus on the donor journey becomes so important again. This sequencing helps donors move from reactive giving into deeper commitment.
So What?
After considering the conclusions of this study and our own experience in the field, here are our main takeaways on how to maximize fundraising impact in most situations:
Lead with the human stakes.
Describe what people are facing in authentic, direct, concrete language. Avoid overly generalized descriptions of hardship.
Tell the truth with care.
Effective fundraising starts with honest storytelling. Every situation deserves to be represented accurately, with dignity and context. Describe the challenges people face without exaggeration, respect their agency, and show how they're navigating difficult circumstances. The goal is to help donors understand what's happening and why their support matters rather than telling a dramatic story.
Make urgency tangible.
Explain why support matters now. Time sensitivity should feel connected to real conditions on the ground.
Connect gifts to outcomes.
Show donors what their support accomplishes quickly and clearly.
Avoid overly polished language.
Fundraising appeals often perform best when messaging feels immediate, human, and emotionally grounded.
Build continuity after emergency response.
The first gift creates an opening for a deeper relationship. Strong follow-up determines whether emergency donors stay connected long-term.
The broader lesson here is simple: donors respond to clarity.
When people understand the stakes, see the human impact, and recognize how their support changes outcomes, fundraising becomes far more effective. And in moments of crisis, that clarity carries real weight.
Understanding what motivates donors is only one piece of the puzzle. The real challenge is translating those insights into fundraising strategies that acquire, retain, and grow donor relationships over time.
At Fuse, we help nonprofits build audience-led fundraising programs that connect compelling messaging with thoughtful donor journeys — so every campaign creates stronger long-term results, not just short-term response.
If you're looking to strengthen your emergency fundraising, donor retention, or multichannel strategy, we'd love to talk.
About the Author:
When he isn't reading history books, planning his next trip, or searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, Ryan is helping nonprofits tell stories that inspire action as a copywriter at Fuse. With more than a decade of experience in nonprofit marketing, copywriting, and fundraising, he combines strategic thinking with a deep appreciation for authentic storytelling to help organizations connect with donors and advance their missions.