Mad as *?!*? Maybe: using anger as a motivator isn't a sudden discovery.

Depending on how old you are, you remember a line from a movie: "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more."

The 1976 movie was Network, the character was newsman Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch), and the plot had nothing to do with fundraising. But those were kinder, gentler times, and in the hyper-competitive 21st century when a nonprofit says it's mad as hell the proclamation may drag dollars from those whose overexposure to competitive nonprofits have become resistant to more conventional appeals.

THE KEY TO ANGER

Using anger as a motivator isn't a sudden discovery. Fringe religious groups, political candidates, and pro or con environmentalists have been using it since the days of Julius Caesar, or maybe Abraham. What's different now is aiming anger at a mass group of prospects rather than limiting it to co-passionists.

The question that should be on the table, determining whether or not you'll outrage more people than you attract, is whether the database or list selection telling you who is getting this message have any agreement--even a peripheral agreement--with your argument. You want to ignite, not convert.

Why? If you're in the mail or on email, you know the rule: Reach and influence, at the lowest possible cost, the most people who have the capability and potential reason to respond.

You don't want "the most people." That's not only wasteful; it's an easy way to generate hate-mail, your prepaid business reply envelope taped to a brick. You want the most people who have the capability and potential reason to respond. That includes both co-religionists (a nobrainer) and logically potential co-religionists (professionalism in action when properly worded).

THE KEY TO PRESENTATION

Structuring a fundraising appeal around anger parallels holding a hand grenade. There's an optimal way of getting it out there so it explodes on-target rather than in your hand. The risk built into this powerful motivator has to pay off.

So the key to anger as a fundraiser is the ability to raise the specter of guilt if your call to action is ignored. That means salting anger with danger.

An example, the first paragraph of a fundraising mailing aimed at scuba divers, a totally accessible "vertical-interest" list:

They're at it again.

They're dumping tires and wires. They're tossing anything and everything off the deck. They're either too stupid or too careless to realize what they're doing to our fragile reefs.

We have to do something. And I mean we. That includes you.

The purist may point out the weakness of generalized words--"doing" and "do something," both of which have more muscular replacements. That isn't the point of discussion. Suppose the appeal--and that's what it was--had opened in the more conventional manner, such as ...

I am writing regarding a matter of great urgency to anyone who is concerned about the damage being done to our fragile reefs. With each passing day, the need to restore the reefs, to rid them of the tires and wires that have accumulated, is more apparent.

Once again the purist may point out the unnecessary use of passive voice, "damage being done," and the uninvolved "is more apparent." Again, that isn't the point of discussion. The question is: Which approach will result in more pledged dollars? The answer is: Yes.

Meaning what? I'd vote for the first approach, but as is true of any facet of fundraising, matching the appeal to the database is a more significant factor than brilliant copy writing. A test tells us how valid our preconceived prejudices are.

Somewhere in the archive is an envelope on whose face was this legend: "Enclosed: Your first real chance to tell the National Rifle Association to go to hell!" I have no idea why or how that mailing was addressed to me. I have every idea of its power among the pre-polarized and the semi-polarized. A similar challenge or advantage (you decide which) exists for the pro-NRA side.

READY. AIM. FIRE.

Startling illustrations? That's a different topic. We're in a competitive jungle, and if yours is a situation in which startling photographs are both relevant and viable, they represent a huge competitive edge.

In fundraising, as in business, gaining a competitive edge is a reason for satisfaction. Using that edge dynamically is a reason to claim success.

If you're going to use anger as a tool or a weapon, jump in with both feet. Semi-anger is too polite to be competitive. And competitive describes politely our nonprofit world in the year 2007.

Herschell Gordon Lewis is the principal of Lewis Enterprises, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., consulting with and writing direct response copy for clients worldwide. His newly published 30th book is "Hot Appeals or Burnt Offerings." Among his other books are "Open Me Now'; "Asinine Advertising" "How to Write Powerful Fundraising Letters"; "On the Art of Writing Copy"; "Marketing Mayhem"; and "Effective E-Mail Marketing." www.herschellgordonlewis.com