It’s “Us” or “Them”

Who you write about has a big influence on the success of your fundraising appeal (direct mail, email, video, etc.). Your choice is “us” or “them.” If you choose “us” then your fundraising copy is all about what your organization has done, what the org plans to do, and what the org will do with […]

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Timing is Everything!

We hear that expression in many areas of our lives. From a “chance” meeting in a coffee shop of someone valuable to our career . . . to hitting one green traffic light after another when running late to an appointment. Today my focus is on the timing of when you send out your thank […]

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I hate your nonprofit website

Okay. Hate is a dreadfully strong word and I don’t mean it literally. But it does lead into my point that visitors to your nonprofit website might mumble to themselves, “I hate this. Why do they do that? It’s so annoying.” Why might donors and members hate dislike and get annoyed by your nonprofit website? […]

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Thank you gifts LOWER donations [Study]

A number of charities try to encourage donations by offering a reward – a thank you gift. Examples include National Public Radio (NPR), Public Broadcasting System (national, regional and local PBS television stations), many environmental groups (tote bags, stuffed animal toys, etc.), and more. Problem is that this method of rewarding donors may actually REDUCE […]

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Frame Nonprofit Storytelling with Photos and Videos

There’s no question that images can increase the impact of a well told story just as the infographic below illustrates. Adding the visual aspect has always been appealing to us: Think of how much more you enjoyed a story book as a child even if it had just one illustration per chapter. And these days […]

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Top 10 Reasons Why a Fundraising Campaign Flops

There are many reasons why your fundraising campaign fails – why it doesn’t come close to raising the revenue you targeted. I’ve assembled my top ten reasons. See if you agree. 1. Copy isn’t reader-centric (put the donor or member in the spot light and make them the hero of your mission work) 2. Poor […]

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Package gestalt includes the Thank You

Every element of a fundraising package must work together to achieve gestalt. And this includes the thank you sent for donations received or for members who joined your association. Briefly: Gestalt is a phenomenon where the whole is greater than the individual parts. It’s akin to a chemical reaction where you create something wonderful because […]

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Nine photo tips for nonprofit storytelling

If you’ve been reading my blog for long, hopefully you’ve figured out that I’m a HUGE fan of stories and storytelling for nonprofits. Stories and appeals can be enhanced with photos. A recent article in FundraisingSuccess was on this very topic, “Telling Stories With Photos.” The author – Pamela Barden – shared six tips to […]

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‘Cause it makes good sense to team up

It’s good business sense to team up with a retailer or other for-profit company to help your nonprofit cause. Yup. Cause-marketing is alive and well. And it’s also a way to boost your year-end fundraising. . A recent article in Retail Online Integration, “Pay it Forward,” shared results from the 2012 Edelman goodpurpose study which […]

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Time to get some free publicity?

Whenever you can tie your cause into a breaking news event, you have a much higher chance of getting the media to cover your story. It’s a chance at some free publicity. And for many parts of the country, that event is the drought and the excessive heat wave. After all, over half of the […]

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