Hands-On Fundraising

Donor Communications

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

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

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

Write a better fundraising appeal

A better fundraising appeal? A better fundraising appeal is simple. You’ve probably heard this before. But my mailbox says too many writers are not taking it seriously. Do you want to write a better fundraising appeal? Do you want to get read? Keep your fundraising appeal simple. I’m talking 4th to 6th grade level, simple. […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, Writing, writing for donors

How to help people feel connected

Connected? What’s that? We’re zooming, we’re calling, we’re writing… but are we connecting? Here are some ideas to help people feel connected now. An article in Psychology Today explained the importance of feeling understood. In fact, the title was: Feeling understood is more important than feeling loved. Whoa. Maybe this is a good time to […]

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

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 111
  • Next Page »

Fundraising advice served fresh to your inbox

Get yours here:

Search

Recent Posts

  • How to Write a Donor Thank You Letter That Retains Donors
  • How to Follow Up with Your Donors About Matching Gifts
  • Unlocking Beautiful Donor Relationships Through the Power of Data
  • 4 Tips for Crafting Emails That Boost Donor Retention
  • Why you should exercise your imagination

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