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Why your fancy newsletter is failing you

Is yours a fancy newsletter? Recently, I’ve been holding on to a few newsletters from organizations my husband and I give to. With one shining exception, they’re disappointing. Or worse. What’s frustrating is they could so easily be great. The organizations do good work. I’m sure they have good stories to tell. And yet, they […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor care, donor focus, donor newsletter 4 Comments

Building a better appeal, part two

Last week, I wrote about your fundraising appeal and offered some steps to improve it. This week, with part two, we’ll pick up where we left off. Here’s what I want to share in both posts: Often missed ingredients for success You have to actually ask. Yes, your story is not, by itself, enough. Use […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor-centered fundraising, fundraising appeal Leave a Comment

How to build a better appeal

Let’s be blunt: most fundraising appeals are well-meaning, but crap. Stuffy. Officious. Impersonal. Focused on the organization’s needs, not the donor’s dreams. The good news is you can start fixing that today, and I’ll show you how. This week and next, we’ll cover: Where to start? Before you even think about writing, think about preparing. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor-centered fundraising, fundraising appeal 7 Comments

The case of the hidden development staff

Have you ever felt your organization’s development staff were hidden away? Maybe on a different plane of existence? Doing strange work normal people wouldn’t understand? I feel strongly about this: development staff must be accessible. Internally and externally. Your work might be specialized, but it’s integral to your organization’s success. (Unless you are fully funded […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: culture of philanthropy, development staff, Fundraising 6 Comments

Where is your dragon?

In honor of the last season of Game of Thrones, let’s talk about dragons. Besides being mythical (maybe), dragons are big and fire-breathing and terrifying. Not something you want to handle on your own. But for fundraising? You want a dragon. I don’t mean something imaginary. I mean something very real, very big and right […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor communications, fundraising appeals 3 Comments

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