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 The critical role emotion plays – and how to […]
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 […]
Fundraisers: why you should use stories, not statistics
The human mind is a wanderer by nature. The daydream is the mind’s default state. Jonathan Gottschall What do you like to read? I read a scary book recently. Dystopic, feminist, infuriating. And compelling. (Gather the Daughters, by Jennie Melamed) But it did what I look to fiction to do. It took me away, to […]
How to show your donors they matter
You know you should thank your donors right away. With sincerity. But unless you don’t care about keeping your donors, you also need to confirm their decision to give was a wise one. How? You share with them what their giving has done. With stories, not statistics. This could be a donor newsletter. It could […]
Is your annual report a waste of a great opportunity?
It’s a serious question: what purpose does your annual report serve? What outcomes are you looking for? Too many organizations see an annual report as part requirement and part brochure. But if yours is meant to be a sales piece, is it selling? How do you know? And if reporting is a legal requirement, couldn’t […]