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Fundraising appeals: think before you write

So you’re ready to write a fundraising appeal. Now what? Before you even begin to write your appeal, there are some things you should think about. What’s the ONE thing you’ll ask a reader to do? Too often, we use a fundraising appeal as a catch-all for everything we want to tell people. This is […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, donor communications, fundraising appeal

Mind the gap

It can be the toughest part of your fundraising communications to grasp. Like a slippery fish, it keeps jumping from your grasp. I’m talking about your fundraising offer, of course. The gap that describes your need. The central part of fundraising that’s so easy to slide over, or step around. The guts of the whole […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, donor communications

6 big fundraising mistakes small organizations make

If you fixed just 6 fundraising mistakes, you’d raise more money. And I know, like it isn’t hard enough being a small organization, right? Not enough staff. Not enough time. And definitely, not enough money. You get used to making do. Find shortcuts. You work a lot. But too often, you don’t do the things that […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: fundraising appeals, fundraising investment, small organizations

All about donor newsletters

Many years ago, I began reading about something new to me. Tom Ahern tipped me off to donor newsletters. Though I’d been in fundraising for nearly ten years by then – focused on individual donors and annual giving – I tended to think of newsletters as something very large organizations sent. (And those were often […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor newsletters

Is philanthropy “women’s work”?

And what does women’s work mean? A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the struggles of balancing work and life – especially for those of us in the nonprofit world. Many of you read it, shared it, commented, or sent me email messages. I’m so grateful to everyone. Because stress is a very real problem. And […]

Filed Under: Blog, Caring for yourself, Nonprofits Tagged With: leadership, Stress, women in nonprofits

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