Fundraising Success magazine has an intriguing photo on this month’s cover of a pretty, exuberant woman smiling at the sun. She is NARAL’s director of membership, Jennifer Donahue, with “pro-choice” tattooed or inked over the biceps muscle of her forearm. The cover photo’s caption reads, “Fearless Fundraising.”
I imagined the magazine’s editorial board determining how to portray NARAL. I could not have come up with any better spin, comparable to Vogue’s July photo of Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards surrounded by babies.
Unsurprisingly, only once in the 2,736 word accompanying article is the word “abortion” mentioned, and that was when reciting NARAL’s mission statement.
An interesting point is NARAL’s membership has increased from 70k in 2000 to 260k today, which is still only .086% of the population. Another interesting point is NARAL’s portrayal of us as “opponents [with] deep pockets.” Ha.
For those interested in fundraising, NARAL’s techniques – integrated use of direct mail, email, and telemarketing to tiered groups of givers – are impressive. I receive their email updates, and they are also well-done.