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Synonyms for Support
Rachel Humphrey
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock We’ve all been there, sitting in a desk chair, googling “synonyms for support.” Well, maybe not all of us, but for those of us who write content for donor relations, you will identify immediately with the above sentence! How do we thank donors for their support of our organizations, institutions, and causes without using the word “support” over and over again? One of the first assignments I was given in my earliest donor stewardship role almost eight years ago was to write a letter on behalf of the vice chancellor that would go out to all endowment donors. I came from the world of advertisement: shopping blogs, coupons, getting people to click on affiliate links. I felt very confident that I could use those same skills to make donors feel good about their contributions to UC Berkeley. I wrote something I thought was impressive, but then my boss said, “Rachel, this is great, but you used the word ‘support’ six times. Find other words.” This was my introduction to the unique challenge of finding synonyms for support in the world of writing for donor relations. Since then I have discovered many new words for support, all with their own unique uses and nuances. The best alternate word for support, in my humble opinion, is generosity. “Your generosity” is perfect because it implies not just support, but giving of yourself in order to be supportive. Our donors are generous with their money, and certain donors have also been generous with their time and resources. It is a word that evokes warmth. It is my first alternate for support, always. Thanks to the generosity of our scholarship donors, 125 students received support this year. Some of my favorite synonyms for support are verbs. Support is a noun and a verb, and using action words can give your writing momentum. Verbs like champion, aid, sustain, provide, contribute, promote, foster, and further can add energy to your donor relations writing, and make great replacements for “support.” When donors champion our excellent faculty, they support all aspects of Berkeley’s mission: teaching, research, and public service. Donors to the endowment sustain Berkeley in the long term, providing a solid foundation from which to plan for the future. Then we have all of our versions of “support” that point directly towards monetary support, specifically. Even though we are in the business of giving, receiving, and using money, we often shy away from directly calling this out. The words I’m talking about are gift, funding, finance, donation, and even bankroll if you have the right audience. These words work well on financial reports, internal documents, and in proposals to the right donors. I would be careful using these words on narrative or impact reports where we want the donor to feel “warm and fuzzy.” With their recent gifts, the Jones family have financed vital research on COVID-19 testing. There is a lot of buzz about Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) lately and movement toward this model. While learning about this and discussing it with my colleagues, I’ve started to think about words that embody this fundraising model, such as partnership, friendship, insight, and collaboration. With your partnership, we can dream bigger! When you are writing a piece for a donor audience, what are your favorite synonyms for support, and what type of feelings are you trying to invoke with them? Please share in the comments so that we can all learn from each other! “Support” count for this article: 20
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Rachel Humphrey has worked at UC Berkeley for seven years. She is Associate Director of Fund Management, and leads a team that is responsible for the annual financial report; and scholarship, fellowship, and chair reporting for the entire campus. Our Premier Partner
