“How do we get people to care about X?”

This commonly asked question gives voice to the frustration of being unable to get the attention, interest, and engagement of people an organization thinks should be interested in the social issue it seeks to address. Yet, unknowingly, the organization likely has created its own stumbling blocks.

Most nonprofits conduct research to inform themselves about which social issues the public cares about so they can judge how their issue stacks up against others. When the data show that their issue ranks among the public’s top concerns, the strategy becomes how to connect theirs to other “popular” issues.

In the end, this research is developed into campaigns to try and create awareness around the issue and its connection to the public’s current interests.

The results of such campaigns come dripping in slowly—showing little gain, if any, in terms of awareness. This is a playbook for time-intensive efforts that result in low response rates and puzzled leadership trying to figure out why.

Let’s dive in a bit to understand what brings this outcome about and how to avoid it.

As a researcher in the consumer, nonprofit, and philanthropy space, I have led many studies on public awareness, action, and engagement. I also review studies when a potential or existing client wants a second opinion on the findings. In both cases, I see a common error that leads to the miscalculation of public interest.

There are two sets of challenges: “THE Priority List” and the difficulty of linking issues.

‘THE Priority List’: Transportation. Health. Employment.

Fundamentally, people must feel secure about being able to meet their basic needs before they will venture outside themselves to care about a social issue that may or may not ever affect them. The public is not waiting idly by to work on social issues you care about. They are trying to live their lives—managing families, jobs, and everyday challenges.

Simply put, I call it living by THE Priority List: Transportation, Health, Employment.

Transportation: Getting from one place to another is key to productive health, employment, and relationships. We all need reliable transportation to attend school to prepare for life, maintain our own health, get to work to earn an income, and care for others. When the cost or reliability of transportation is altered, for example, by higher gas prices, fewer bus routes, or a broken-down car, our attention necessarily shifts away from social issues to how we will get from point A to point B.

Health:  Our ability to maintain a healthy state of well-being allows us to hold a job, be with our families, and provide the support necessary for everything that requires our attention. Our health is crucial to our lifestyle and livelihood and enables us to help others who may not be as healthy. When we or our loved ones are dealing with health issues, everything else takes a lower priority. Health insecurity inhibits our ability to remain active and engaged.

Employment:  Income from our jobs provides the resources to handle everyday needs for ourselves and those who depend on us. Similarly, changes to our work lives affect how we engage with one another, especially our loved ones. Employment challenges—from getting and keeping a job to earning a fair wage and meeting employers’ demands—require more of our time and attention than the social issues we care about.

The public is managing these three crucial priorities every day. The frequency and intensity of that management can’t help but interfere with a person’s ability to address social issues no matter how much they care about them.

Research studies into what social issues the public cares about ask people to momentarily forget “THE Priority List.” It’s a wonderful state of affairs to envision, but one that doesn’t work in real life. People can’t focus on or devote energy to social issues when they are dealing with more immediately demanding transportation, health, or employment challenges.

As leaders, we must learn that our target audiences are ready to hear our message and capable of engaging with our cause only when they are adequately managing those crucial priorities. That’s when they will have the capacity to express their devotion and passion for our issue.

Linkages already exist

When I hear nonprofit staff talking about how their issues link to another issue of the moment, I never walk away thinking the linkage isn’t real. Rather, what goes through my head is whether an individual in a target audience can be made to understand the linkage between the two issues. Here’s why:

1. If the individual’s focus is on “THE Priority List,” they don’t have the bandwidth to understand the linkage—so trying to force the connection will be simply confusing (and be ignored); or

2. The main issue of the moment (the one an organization is trying to link to) is squarely focused on the same element of “THE Priority List” that the individual is grappling with—so the time isn’t right for trying to insert the organization’s (lower-ranked) issue.

In a recent study, we presented a headline about a main issue, then made statements linking a second issue to the main one. Asked to express what they thought about the second issue, participants clearly indicated that the second issue was either: a) significant but not as important as the main issue; or b) linked with an element from “THE Priority List” and therefore important.

What does this teach us? The public has a priority list they manage every day that takes attention away from the social issues they care about. The question thus becomes how your organization will show people that your issue connects with “THE Priority List”—and is then vitally significant to them.

Our work is to create stories of experience, challenge and connection to the challenges affecting our target audience, not just the social issues of the moment.

Derrick Feldmann (@derrickfeldmann) is the founder of the Millennial Impact Project, lead researcher at Cause & Social Influence, and the author of The Corporate Social Mind. See Derrick’s related articles in Philanthropy News Digest, “Nurturing a community for the greatest impact” and “Creating symbiosis between marketing and advocacy.”