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The lesson of my mom’s chili

Or why too many cooks who don’t know what’s already in the pot can make a mess. Years ago, my family was gathered at my parents’ home to celebrate Christmas. By now, we were a big crowd – I have three siblings, and each of us has two children. So my mom planned to make eating […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: Fundraising, writing for donors 7 Comments

Don’t make my aunt write your acknowledgment

Don’t make my aunt write your acknowledgment I was ticked off into writing. It wasn’t what I’d planned to start with. But for my very first post at Hands-On Fundraising, I wrote about a situation that really upset me. To recap: A dear friend lost his mother. At the funeral home, handy forms suggested memorial […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: donor care, donor respect, good fundraising 7 Comments

Oh, brave new world

Oh, brave new world Is it just me? I’m feeling more Huxley than Shakespeare right now. Many of us in the nonprofit world are feeling anxious. The future is scary. It’s clearer every day: we’re going to have to up our games. Here in the U.S. changes in our social safety net, along with possible […]

Filed Under: Blog, Planning Tagged With: donor care, self-care 7 Comments

Direct mail – still not dead

Direct mail – still not dead Have you read Blackbaud’s 2016 Charitable Giving Report yet? There’s a great deal of information in this easy-to-read report. I recommend you download it. The report focuses much attention on online giving. And that channel is growing. But one sentence, in particular, stuck out to me, and I want to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: copywriting, direct mail, fundraising program 7 Comments

How this thank you is the winning move for loyal donors

You call it demanding, I call it discerning. OK, I will admit it: I can be the El Exigente of donor communications. Picky, picky, picky. If a family member happens to be standing nearby as I open the mail, I drive them nuts. “This is a thank you letter? It’s all about them!” “My annual […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor love, loyal donors, thank you letters 7 Comments

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