The Medium Is the Offer

You may have heard the medium is the message. This pithy phrase comes from a book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, by Marshall McLuhan (1964). The basic idea is that the characteristics of a medium can dominate and even override the content carried by the medium.

In fundraising we depend on media to communicate with individuals. We need to pay close attention to the media we use because they influence what our audience receives from the communication.

Think about it. A typical appeal letter carries a vivid cry for help. And gets a 5% response rate. Why doesn’t it get at least 50%? Are people really that calloused? That’s part of the point. The medium, a mass produced piece of direct mail, plays a significant role in what the individual receives. It dilutes it.

Contrast that with an in-person visit from the organization’s president. It's harder to say no.

The medium is the offer.

The offers we present our donors are defined by the medium we select. A double buckslip direct mail package is fine for a $25 annual fund drive, but it's not suited for presenting a complex community development project for $10,000. The richer and more personal the medium, the better suited it is for involved and high-priced offers.