You focus on your donor communication. Your donor doesn’t. Won’t. Can’t. The rookie mistake is to think that a single impact or a single email or a single phone call will connect powerfully enough with the donor for them to make a good giving decision. It won’t. The rookie mistake is to evaluate a single …
Sorry if that sounds like one of those clickbait posts. It’s not clickbait, it’s truth. Really it’s a 13-word sentence that will improve your fundraising. Not only will these 13 words improve your fundraising and development work, they could change your career, your relationships, really your life. And it explains a lot of the craziness …
A mid-30’s professional, I’ll call him “Phil,” told me about his experience with improper form. Phil and his wife enjoy giving. They’re exactly who you want to begin to draw into your work. They care about people and changing the world. They have some resources, and they’re committed to their community. Phil had noticed an …
Look. There are two truths you need to believe to be successful in marketing and fundraising for nonprofits. These two are related. We’ll see if I can get you there. The first truth is that all babies are just about the same amount of cute and ugly. (Stay with me). Don’t think of your babies. …
Logic and reason kills direct mail fundraising, online fundraising and in-person fundraising. I have to confess it makes me giddy imagining how irritating that sounds to a few of you. Sorry, I’m not more mature about it. Instead of reason or logic, go with emotion. Tell the story of a real person. Show the life …
I want to let you in on an insider secret that direct mail fundraising experts use to raise millions of dollars. It’s a strategy you can use to improve your direct mail. In fact, this strategy will help all your fundraising and marketing. Before I give you that fundraising secret, you have to know about …
Here’s a tragic, expensive fundraising mistake you can learn from. In this week’s mail was a New Donor Direct Mail Acquisition kit from the nice folks at CARE. And it made me so mad I was stomping around the office for a couple of hours before I was calm enough to write. Beautiful outer …
1 is more powerful than 10,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 in fundraising. I call this the “1 Beats a Zillion” Law of Fundraising*. Violators of the 1 Beats a Zillion Law are in for a painful lesson. I’ve watched this law play out time and time again. It’s painful because donors don’t — and won’t …
After my post on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a couple of people pointed out to me that I hadn’t really drawn a conclusion or called out the lesson we should learn. Yep, you got me on that. I love the tribe that hangs around here because you’re always looking to learn what’s next, how …
You really should love the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Really. I’ve done my best to sit on the sidelines of this one. But then I saw this meme (“Let me get this straight” boy) come through my social media feed, not once, not twice, but three times. And that did it. I can’t not say …
If you’re not focused on visuals, you’re missing a great chance to connect with your audience. The always thoughtful Neil Patel over at Quicksprout had a terrific infographic that you must look at. Neil wrote this post in August 2013 and it’s more true than ever. Infographic courtesy of: Quick Sprout What does “Your Brain …
3 reasons you need more visuals in your fundraising Read More »
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