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Dear Fundraiser: Things we shouldn’t do

Dear fundraiser: things I wish you wouldn't do

  Dear Fundraiser, Here are the things I wish we wouldn’t do. I’m cheering for our success. So in a helpful spirit, I offer you my list below. So, putting on my donor hat, I wish we wouldn’t: Send an automated thank you message for an online gift and assume that’s enough Forget to thank […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeals, donor retention, relationships, thank you letters 35 Comments

Don’t invoice me when you want a gift

Wrong way

I’ve been stewing for a while about a certain kind of solicitation I’ve seen. I’ve hesitated to write about it. But I get more annoyed the more I think about the damage these things can do. Want some examples? This is an email I got last December. (Good organization, bad solicitation.) And this tactic made […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeals, donor care, donor choice 13 Comments

Are you making these fundraising mistakes?

Don't disappear after the gift

As a consultant, I work with some smaller nonprofits. To begin, I try to get a sense of how they’re fundraising now. I see similar problems across different organizations. But here’s the surprising thing − I see these same problems in my mailbox every day, from national and international charities. So these aren’t only small organization problems. I’ll […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, appeals, how to ask, nonprofit fundraising, solicitations 9 Comments

Say it again!

repeating daisies

  Today I found myself hunting for an idea I’d seen for a lapsed donor appeal. My search took me to some letters I’d written years ago. I wrote the letters at my former organization. With a few years’ distance, I definitely found a few things I’d change. But one thing struck me – how consistent […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, appeals, direct mail, fundraising appeal, Writing 3 Comments

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