If you ask a musician what AIDA means the person will most likely speak to you about Verdi’s Opera AIDA. The saga of an Ethiopian princess who was captured by the Egypt and found love with Radames, a military commander that the Pharaoh’s daughter also loves. 
If you ask a free-diver what AIDA means the person will explain that it is the Worldwide Federation for breath-hold diving, established in 1992 which manages and oversees the recognition of records, organizes competitions, and sets the standards for free-dive education.
If you ask a cook / chef what AIDA means the person will talk about the Food Network show Ask Aida. Aida Mollenkamp is a cooking expert that prepares delicious dishes and answers viewers' questions on her interactive cooking show.Now ask a PR practitioner what is AIDA? The answer is the format that is used to communicate a message that causes a reader to respond in the manner that you want them to. Every time you write a letter or email you should adhere to these four items:
ATTENTION: You need to get the person reading the letter
INTEREST: You need to create interest in the cause by providing them with facts that will interest them.
DESIRE: Create the desire that will entice the person to give you what you want.
ACTION: Gives the reader what you want them to do.
These four items are especially important to those who raise monies via annual giving letters. The letters are often the way an organization raises unrestricted (can be applied to the organizations greatest need) funds help the group to operate / cover daily operational expenses.
A book I purchased is a called Fundraising Fundamentals: Annual Giving Guide to Professionals and Volunteers that provides information on how to create a successful annual giving campaign and uses the AIDA format.
Great information! I’ve always wondered how you know an acronym is original. And what if it’s not? How confusing it is when so many things can be searched in various ways using acronyms. How many times do you use acronyms as your search word on the internet? I do all the time. This just supports why things are so very confusing. I’m not saying acronyms are not useful, just confusing and difficult to sort out. I guess we keep searching and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I started reading your blog because I saw the musical AIDA when it came to Minneapolis several years ago. It was a wonderful musical and I still listen to the soundtrack every now and then.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I soon realized that was not the core topic of your post. I was disappointed for a short time, until I realized the great information you were imparting to the rest of us! Hopefully Shannon doesn’t dock me for this, but I had never heard of the AIDA format until reading your post. Now that I know it, it seems so obvious and makes so much sense to use. Thanks so much for sharing!