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Donor Communications

Do you want to get bigger? Think small.

Do you want to get bigger? Think small. Everybody is nobody. That is, if your target audience is the world, you won’t really touch anyone. From time to time, I get an email from someone looking for fundraising help. They want to know how they can get their message out to everyone. So, first, let […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor care, donor retention

How to write a great fundraising appeal

Here’s how you can put together an appeal that works Back when I was a Girl Scout, we had a bake-off. (I won our Brownie bake-off with peanut butter blossoms because I voted for myself. I still have residual guilt about that.) One of the lessons was to assemble your ingredients before you start. Writing […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: direct mail, donor-centered, fundraising appeal

Who is that newsletter for anyway?

Newsletter fails make me sad. The tagline said “thanking those who make a difference”, but I don’t think that’s me. Why? Because out of maybe 15 articles in the newsletter, 10 refer to large individual or foundation gifts. Like, millions large. And while the stated purpose of this newsletter is thanks, the headlines read like […]

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

Do you have a cause worth joining?

Is your cause worth joining? I’ve been watching the kids from Parkland, FL force the country to face our gun safety problems. They’ve succeeded in grabbing our attention for many reasons. But one important reason is that they’ve defined their cause. Successfully, boldly and in a united way. We know what they’re fighting. We know […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor acquisition, mission statement

When your fundraising goals matter. And when they don’t.

I’ll bet your inbox looked like mine at year-end. Filled with urgent news about fundraising goals. So many emails and letters – from organizations you support and sometimes from those you barely know. But every time I saw an appeal (email or direct mail) based on the organization’s fundraising goals, I wanted to cry. So […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor engagement, emotional fundraising, fundraising goals

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Recent Posts

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