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I’m no hero and neither are you

I’m no hero, but I’m trying to do it all right now. I bet you know what I mean. Year-end is especially busy for those of us who raise money for nonprofits. It’s the high holy season of giving, and if we’re not ever present in our donors’ consciousness, we risk losing support. If we […]

Filed Under: Blog, Caring for yourself, Donors Tagged With: Donors, Fundraising, help, individual giving, Nonprofit, Nonprofit organization

Why no, I’m not going to mind my own business

Fundraising IS a nonprofit’s business I keep reading that the practice of medicine has changed radically. Family doctors are getting hard to find. It seems we live in an age of specialists. As the development director, it’s natural to assume your job is to be the organization’s fundraising specialist – the person with a particular […]

Filed Under: Blog, Planning Tagged With: Boards, Fundraising, organizational structure

Don’t break my heart.

Don’t break my heart. Remember that fundraising is always personal. You might think I’m writing about the one that got away. The donor we courted and counted on. And then disappeared. We’ve all been there, right? It’s frustrating… sometimes, it breaks your heart. But today I’m writing as a donor. And about communications that reduce […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: appeal writing, communication, donor retention, Donors, emotion, Fundraising, thank you letters

Are you assimilated?

Anyone of a certain age or entertainment preference will recognize the Borg. For the rest of you, let me explain a little. In Star Trek, the Borg is one of the most dangerous foes our heroes have to deal with. To quote Wikipedia’s entry: The Borg are a collection of species that have been turned into cybernetic organisms functioning […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, Borg, Donors, emotion, Fundraising

Have you ditched your annual appeal yet?

Here’s why you should ditch that annual appeal I just emailed a letter, response form, and list to the mail house. Our base tends to be generous at this time of year. (Yours probably is, too.) There’s a lot riding on this appeal, and I’ve spent many hours on my offer, my story, my response […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Planning Tagged With: annual appeal, appeal, appeal writing, direct mail, donor, fundraising appeal

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