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Donor Communications

Are you available to donors?

Are you available to donors? Can they reach you when they want to connect? I’ve written about a few badly done gift acknowledgments, here and here. I didn’t want to shame the organizations, so I omitted their names. But after each post, a colleague urged me to contact the offending organization. These organizations deserve to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor retention, Fundraising, stewardship, thank you letters 8 Comments

People, this is NOT a thank you!

People, this is NOT a thank you. This is a poorly done appeal badly disguised as a gift acknowledgment. There’s no gratitude here. And there’s no reason to give, either. Two sentences. That’s what’s spared for the donor. Fifty percent of the front page is about asking for another gift. One hundred percent of the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: donor relations, stewardship, thank you letters 12 Comments

7 words and phrases that should die

You know what happens when someone tells you not to think about a pink elephant? Suddenly you can’t get that creature out of your mind, right? Something similar seems to be happening to me as I think and write about writing. My jargon-o-meter is on high alert these days. So, for a little fun, here […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, Donors, jargon 27 Comments

Writing for someone else’s voice

If you write fundraising appeals, chances are someone else will sign what you write. So how do you write in a way that’s both compelling and believable? The most important thing is not that the letter sounds like the person signing it. The most important thing is that the letter is effective. So resist complaints […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, direct mail, Donors, fundraising appeal, Nonprofit Leave a Comment

Don’t fall in love

Sometimes you can choose when to fall in love It feels wonderful to be in love. Colors are brighter, sounds are sweeter. You know, all that pop song stuff. But it’s a dangerous thing to fall in love with your own writing. Or with your own organization. Don’t get me wrong – you want to […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, donor-focused, fundraising writing, writing for donors 6 Comments

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