Hands-On Fundraising

Donor Communications

  • About
  • Hands-On Fundraising Blog
  • Services
  • Contact

How to write a thank-you letter that builds relationships

I recently received a thank-you letter. It was awful. And it made me so angry… not just personally. But the waste! The simple way they made a donor feel insignificant. The way they bragged. It hurt my heart. So, I’m writing a little refresher for you. I don’t want your thanks to ever be awful!. […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor retention, Thanks Tagged With: donor retention, thank you letters Leave a Comment

Build Major Donor Relationships: 5 Tips for Fundraisers

Securing a major gift is rarely the result of a single conversation. Instead, cultivating these investments requires targeted prospect research, careful portfolio management, and personalized relationship building. Plus, to grow your major gifts program, you’ll need to manage dozens of prospects at once. Maintaining individual relationships at scale is one of the most common challenges […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donors, Major Giving Tagged With: donor relationships, Fundraising, major gifts Leave a Comment

How to win donors by writing from your heart

What do you treasure? She’s not sure why she still has them after all these years. Letters. Love letters. From friends and more than friends. From her childhood, really. It was so long ago. But there they are, buried in the basement with other memories. Wrapped in a red ribbon. Treasured. And every once in […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Donors Tagged With: appeal writing, donor care, donor communications Leave a Comment

How you can use the Benjamin Franklin effect

The Benjamin Franklin effect describes how doing a favor for someone can actually make us feel more positive about that person. The phenomenon is named after Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, who wrote about the concept in his autobiography.  From The Decision Lab: While serving in the Pennsylvania Assembly, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Fundraising Tagged With: donor communications, donor retention

Can’t afford to raise money?

If your org is a sometimes presence in the lives of your donors and prospects, that’s a problem. For now, and for the future. And that means you need to spend money to make money. But while fundraisers usually understand this, it can be hard to persuade the people with the purse-strings that fundraising isn’t […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising, Nonprofits Tagged With: donor care, donor communications, Fundraising

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 111
  • Next Page »

Fundraising advice served fresh to your inbox

Get yours here:

Search

Recent Posts

  • How to write a thank-you letter that builds relationships
  • Build Major Donor Relationships: 5 Tips for Fundraisers
  • How to win donors by writing from your heart
  • Arts Fundraising: Engage and Inspire Your Donors
  • How you can use the Benjamin Franklin effect

Work with me!

Let's talk about how I can help your organization raise more money.

Contact

  • Donor communications
  • Fundraising Strategy

Copyright © 2026 · Mary Cahalane · Hands-On Fundraising · 847 S. Main Street · #183 · Plantsville, CT 06479