Did your high school English teacher tell you not to use clichés? Mine too.

Tropes and platitudes are frowned on in formal writing. They’re unoriginal, even lazy. But while you had plenty of space to express unique analogies in a high school essay, you don’t always have that luxury in nonprofit writing.

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When you have to grab your supporter’s attention and tap into their emotions quickly, clichés can be a useful shortcut. Especially if you use them to launch a new idea.

I saw the Broadway tour of Water for Elephants last month (I 100% recommend you go if it’s coming to your area). I was floored by the acrobatics, the puppetry, and the stage pictures they created. But a clever play on a common aphorism really got me thinking.

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There’s a song in Act II called “Squeaky Wheel.” Seeing the title, I was primed for the old saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

In case this one’s new to you, the idea is that someone who complains loudly and often will get their needs met. It’s not super flattering to the subject, but it’s accurate (if you weren’t immediately thinking about the volunteer who has a comment about everything and usually gets what they want, you are now).
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But when the actors finally got to the title phrase, they flipped it on its head:

Squeaky wheels don't get the grease,

They get fired.

At first, I laughed at the unexpected twist (emotion). But almost immediately, I started thinking about all of the situations where it might actually be dangerous to be a squeaky wheel (logic). The lyricists had a compelling point, and they drove it home in a single sentence.
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Since a donor’s brain evaluates a mix of emotional and logical factors when deciding whether to donate, finding a concise way to incorporate both can be a powerful bridge from story to gift. So the next time you need to make a point or inspire a supporter to think in a new way quickly, see how you can serve them something familiar, with a twist.
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P.S. I'm hoping to finish "The Capacity-Strapped Nonprofit's Guide to Running a High-ROI Campaign" by the end of the month. You'll automatically get a copy as a subscriber. If you know someone who might like to read it, they can join the waitlist here.

Interesting Nonprofit Link

We view the year-end giving season through a nonprofit bubble. A lot of donations come in then, and it’s super important to us. So it’s super important to everyone, right? Check out the results of this AP survey to see what most Americans think about year-end giving. What insights can you glean for your year-end planning for 2026?

Nonprofit Good News

This article captures mega-scale fundraising, and the results are pretty exciting. Bill Gates announced that some heavy-hitting foundations around the world may be able to completely knock out polio in a few years. That would make polio the second human disease in history to be completely eradicated. 🤯

See you next month!

Lee O'Connell, nonprofit content and copywriter
<--- most recent picture of me in my phone

​leeoconnell.com​
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