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Donor Communications

Want to know how to cure donor fatigue?

Want to know how to cure donor fatigue? Donor fatigue. Is it real? I don’t buy it. To me, it’s a cop-out. An excuse for bad fundraising. Look, I’m sure many donors are tired of the solicitations they receive. But that’s because so much of what they get is irrelevant to them. Sending fewer appeals […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor communications, donor fatigue, fundraising appeals 2 Comments

September Nonprofit Blog Carnival How do you say thanks?

How do you say thanks? When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.― Maya Angelou We often focus on the end of the year as a special time to be thankful. But honestly, gratitude should be a daily practice for those of us working for great causes. How do you keep donors around? […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: gratitude, Nonprofit Blog Carnival, thank you letters 8 Comments

The gift they want from you

  I’ve been writing a lot about the role of emotion in fundraising. That’s because it’s so important! But let’s take it another step. Fundraisers often talk about relationship fundraising as opposed to transactional fundraising. You know donors aren’t ATMs and shouldn’t be treated that way. But there is an exchange that happens with a […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: emotional fundraising, emotional triggers, fundraising appeal 5 Comments

Why Mr. Spock can’t raise money

Why Mr. Spock can’t raise money Poor Spock. He’s caught between his tidy Vulcan logic and messy human emotion. Most of the time, he relies on Vulcan cool. That wouldn’t work well for fundraising, though. Human beings don’t make purely rational decisions. This isn’t my guess; it’s science. We make decisions in the older part […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor communications, emotional fundraising, neuropsychology 2 Comments

Why you don’t want to be a tool

You don’t want to be a tool, do you? Who do you read to make you think? One blog I like to check in on is Trevor O’Donnell’s Marketing the Arts to Death. As the title says, it’s about arts marketing. But to me, it’s broader. Trevor shows how mistaken arts marketing often is. Because […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: arts marketing, donor-focused 4 Comments

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