Getting noticed (probably) isn’t your problem
It’s what happens next that determines whether or not you'll raise funds.
Most nonprofits I work with are actually very good at getting noticed.
They know how to put work into the world. Campaign launches, social posts, media mentions and events. There’s usually a lot happening and a lot of visibility, and from the outside, it often looks like things are working.
And then, usually with real confusion, they say:
“We don’t understand why all this visibility isn’t turning into fundraising.”
Nine times out of ten, it’s not a lack of effort. It’s what happens next.
The moment it clicked
Recently, I worked through a six-month content calendar with a client using a very simple way of thinking: Notice → Care → Act → Stay.
Nothing clever. Just a lot of post-its and a way to be honest about what actually happens once someone comes across your work.
We mapped their existing ideas against it.
The Notice column filled up immediately. Campaign announcements. Media articles. Big awareness days. Partner shout-outs. Strong stories explaining the issue and why it matters.
Then we moved to Care, and the room got quiet.
There were very few ideas that helped someone lean in a little more. No low-risk ways to respond. No invitations to join a conversation, sign up for something small, or spend more time with the work. Most of the content assumed that if people noticed, they’d automatically care.
They don’t.
When we got to Act, there were a few ideas (a donation page linked at the end of a campaign, an annual event), but nothing consistent and nothing clearly connected to what came before.
And Stay? Almost empty. No real plan for what happens once someone donates, attends or signs up. No thought given to why someone would stick around.
That’s when it landed for everyone in the room.
Nothing was wrong with their visibility. People were noticing them just fine.
They just weren’t being told where to look next.
What these stages actually look like
This is where teams usually get stuck, so let me make it very concrete.
Notice is the first touch. Someone sees a post in their feed, reads a media article, attends a launch event or hears about you from a friend. You’re not asking for anything yet. You’re just helping them understand what you do and why it matters.
Think: a short video explaining the problem, a strong op-ed, a campaign headline that makes someone pause.
Care is the next step, and it’s the most neglected. This is where someone starts to feel a connection. They sign up for your newsletter. They attend a free webinar. They download a resource. They reply to an email. They answer a poll. They stay on your site for more than thirty seconds.
Care is about attention, not money. It’s where trust begins.
For example, after a campaign post, you invite people to join a mailing list to learn more. After an event, you share a behind-the-scenes story or a short reflection from the team. You run an ask-me-anything and actually respond to the answers.
Act is where you make a clear, specific ask. Donate R250. Buy a ticket. Become a monthly supporter. Volunteer. Share your details.
One action. One moment. No guessing.
If someone has noticed you and started to care, acting feels natural rather than pushy.
Stay is what happens once they do. And this is the part that quietly determines whether your fundraising gets easier or harder over time.
Stay looks like a genuine thank-you that doesn’t feel automated. An email a month later showing what their donation enabled. An invitation to something that isn’t another ask. A story that helps them feel part of something, not just useful to it.
Stay is why someone donates again.
Why notice on its own isn’t enough
This is the uncomfortable bit.
Getting noticed doesn’t raise money on its own. It doesn’t build relationships. And it doesn’t sustain organisations.
Notice is the beginning, not the goal. But many teams stop there because it feels productive, it’s visible internally, and it’s often what leadership asks for.
“Let’s get the message out there” is an easy brief.
“How do we help people care, act and stay?” takes more intention.
Why the care stage matters so much
One of the biggest shifts for that team was realising that care isn’t a “nice to have”.
Care earns you the right to ask.
If you skip it, your donation asks feel abrupt or transactional. If you invest heavily in notice but barely in care, people know you exist but don’t feel connected enough to act.
Why this matters right now
Teams are stretched. Budgets are tight. Attention is fragmented. Which means wasted effort hurts more than it used to.
I’ve seen organisations pour months of work into beautiful campaigns that help people notice, but don’t give them anywhere to go. Events with no follow-up. Content calendars that never really ask for anything, and then nothing that makes people want to stay.
And then, quietly, the blame shifts to donor fatigue or the economy (or the comms team).
Sometimes the fix isn’t more creativity.
It’s better flow.
This works at any scale
What I like about Notice → Care → Act → Stay is that it works just as well for a one-day fundraising event as it does for a six-week digital campaign or a year-long content plan.
You don’t need more content.
You need to help people move. And give them a reason to stay.
A simple exercise you can actually use
If any of this is resonating, here’s a practical exercise you can do without turning it into a whole project.
Start by listing all your current communications activities. And I mean everything that takes time and energy: social posts, emails, newsletters, events, reports, media work, WhatsApp messages, campaigns.
Next to each one, write a single word: Notice, Care, Act or Stay.
Don’t overthink it. Your first instinct is usually right.
Once you’ve done that, step back and look at the pattern rather than the individual items.
Most teams I work with realise they’re doing a huge amount of Notice, a bit of Act, very little Care, and a reasonable amount of Stay. That’s not because anyone is doing a bad job. It’s just how nonprofit communications tends to evolve, especially under pressure.
The point of the exercise isn’t to add more work. It’s to see where a small shift could make a big difference.
So instead of asking, “What new thing should we create?”, ask:
Where is most of our effort actually going?
Where are things thin or missing altogether?
And what’s one realistic adjustment we could make this month to strengthen Care or Act?
That might be something very ordinary, like adding a thoughtful follow-up email after an event, turning one awareness post into a question people can respond to, or sending a proper thank-you and impact update instead of moving straight on to the next campaign.
You don’t need to redo everything. You just need to stop assuming that notice automatically turns into action, or that action automatically leads to loyalty.
It doesn’t. It has to be designed.
This is a great post, Wendy.
It’s a fundraising-specific case study of a post I shared yesterday on relationship-heavy roles, which I describe as invisible relationship work, basically the steady investment in knowing your stakeholders, including their motivations and constraints, and maintaining that connection.
Your “Care” stage names the part that often gets missed: the invisible work of building trust and offering a consistent next step, so attention becomes commitment over time.
You are also exactly right that “Notice is the beginning, not the goal,” and that many teams stop there because it feels productive and is easy to see internally since it creates tangible artifacts. The visible output gets attention, but the invisible relationship work is what converts attention into sustained action.
Love the practicality and directness of the approach. Notice -> Care -> Act -> Stay. It's a powerful articulation of the evolving user journey, starting with the Loyalty Loop and evolving to today.
Non-profits (and for profit for that matter) often treat the joiner/new customer too simply. A thank you, and then back to the regularly scheduled program. Segmenting out this audience and deepening the connection with them pays massive dividends.