Imagine a donor sits down to give to a cause they care about. They search for your organization and find a fundraising page you never created, never reviewed, and never approved.
That’s what happened when GoFundMe built donation pages for 1.4 million nonprofits without asking them first. Using publicly available data, the platform made the pages live and searchable. Unclaimed pages meant confusion for donors, loss of control over messaging, and potential delays in receiving funds.
The sector pushed back, and it worked. The National Council of Nonprofits spoke up, and GoFundMe shifted to an opt-in model — so no public fundraising pages unless a nonprofit chooses to have one.
The lesson applies to every organization, nonprofit or for-profit: when you don’t control your message, you’re leaving money on the table.
Why Clear Messaging Matters to Your Customers
I often talk about how being clear is kind when it comes to building stronger teams. Teams that understand each other, trust each other, and work better together. But clarity matters just as much for the people you serve.
You don’t want to operate on an “if you know, you know” basis with your customers. You want to welcome the people who don’t know and make it easy for them to find what they need.
They have limited time. If you don’t make it obvious from the start how you can help and where to go to get that help, they’ll move on to someone who does. That’s a lost customer, and it’s also someone who needed you and never found their way in.
How to Make Your Messaging Clear at Every Touchpoint
Clear messaging isn’t just your website. It runs through every place a customer meets you. They need to be able to see why they want to work with you and how to actually get there.
Your why: Can people quickly tell why you exist and who you help?
Your what and how: Is it clear what you do and how you do it? Skip the jargon and the insider shorthand.
Your next step: Does every email, brochure, social post, and page tell people exactly what to do next?
Your tools: Is the phone number correct? Does the line ring to someone who can help? Are your hours, forms, and contact details accurate everywhere they appear?
A beautiful message falls apart if the customer calls the number and reaches a dead end. Every step should be as easy for them as possible.
How to Test Your Messaging
The strategy that I’ve found works best is bringing in someone else to take a look. Have a complete outsider (such as a consultant) review your materials and tell you what they gathered. You don’t want an expert in your field reviewing your materials. Your clients are most likely regular people — that’s the audience you want to cater to. Give them your website, brochures, and voicemail greeting, and ask: What do we do? Who is it for? What would you do next?
Their answers will show you the gaps you can’t see because you’re too close. Then get extra clear on your messaging and the why behind it, so every piece says the same thing.
Clarity Is for Everyone You Serve
Clarity matters not just to your employees, but to your customers. When you’re clear on the inside, it shows on the outside, and the people you’re trying to reach can find you, trust you, and take action.
This is something the Gray Breakthroughs team does in our organizational assessments. If you’d like to know what your customers actually experience, drop us a line!
