Why Weird Numbers Beat Normal Numbers Every Single Time
I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my fundraising career.
I’ve over-asked, under-asked, not asked, forgotten to follow up, made big typos, missed appointments.
You know … stuff like that.
Can I tell you about one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made?
I rounded.
I took a program that cost $73.42 per participant and asked people to give $75.
Why? Because a clean number felt easier. Because nobody wants to write a check with cents. Because I was being considerate.
It was a mistake.
Guess what happened when we finally switched to asking for the actual $73.42? Conversion increased. Revenue increased. Gift count increased.
We were talking about the program using the same copy.
Everything was the same except those stupid, beautiful, weird looking cents at the end.
Donors are smarter than we often give them credit for.
When you ask for $100, they hear, “We pulled this out of thin air.”
When you ask for $97.25, they hear, “We sharpened our pencils, checked our receipts, and counted every paper clip.”
One is a guess. The other is a guarantee.
Round numbers suggest you’re marketing.
Weird numbers prove you actually talked to the people in programs and accounting.
Care to guess which one leads to more gifts?
When you’re building an ask array or a fundraising offer, remember the weirder the number, the more likely it is to catch someone’s attention.
Forget numbers that end in 9. That’s retail psychology, and donors aren’t buying shoes. They’re giving to change lives. So go full weird and let your spreadsheet speak.
Hopefully you’re convinced. If so, here’s a quick playbook for finding your own weird but true numbers.
1) Stop Rounding Anything Ever Again
Go to your programs team. Ask them what things actually cost. Not ballpark. Not “around.” Ask for actual numbers.
- What does it cost to provide therapy for one youth for one month?
- What’s the real price of a week at your summer camp?
- What does that holiday meal program run per family?
If you have to get into the weeds and pull up receipts and invoices, that’s okay. The more granular the better.
2) Add It All Up (Including The Boring Stuff)
Don’t just count the obvious. Count everything:
- The cost of the meal ($18.30)
- The paper plates and napkins ($2.17)
- The portion of staff time to coordinate ($11.85)
- The fraction of facility overhead ($6.92)
- The gas money to get it there ($3.48)
Total: $42.72
Boom. You’ve got your ask. Not $45. Not $40. Forty-two dollars and seventy-two cents.
3) Present It Like You’re Proud Of It
Never apologize for the weirdness of your number. Use it like the powerful tool it is.
If it costs you $42.72 to provide a complete holiday meal for a family of four, stop saying:
“For just $43, you can provide a meal.”
And start saying:
“It only costs exactly $42.72 to provide a complete holiday meal for a family of four. That includes everything from the turkey to the gas money to deliver it to their door. Not a penny more. Not a penny less.”
See what happened there? The specificity becomes the story, and the weird number is the proof.
4) Test The Really Weird Ones
If you think $42.72 sounds weird, try $127.83. Try $8.46. Try $1,091.25.
I once worked with a foster care agency who provided after-school tutoring to teens in care.
It cost them $1,091.25 to fund a full year of tutoring for one teen.
Could they have rounded to $1,100? Sure. Did they? Nope.
Their donors loved it, and board members memorized it. It showed up in their major gift conversations because it was memorable in its weirdness. Eventually $1,091.25 became their signature ask.
People trust weird numbers because they look more real. A weird number proves you’re not making things up to sound good in a brochure. A weird number proves you’re counting costs like you count donations … carefully, gratefully, honestly. Weird numbers prove you respect your donors enough to tell them the truth, even when the truth has cents at the end.
Convinced yet? Here’s my invitation.
Next week, can you pick three programs and get into the weeds with your programs and accounting teams to find the actual costs for the things you’re asking donors to fund?
Once you have your own weird but true numbers, build your asks, then change one appeal.
Use the real number cents and all, and watch what happens.
Donors aren’t dumb.
They know things cost weird amounts. Their grocery bills aren’t round numbers. Their mortgage isn’t a clean figure. Their lives are full of $73.42 and $891.67 and $28.19.
Your asks should be too.
Now go forth and get weird.
-Michael
