Between COVID delays and the attempt to hijack our constitutionally created United States Postal Service, mail has slowed down. A lot. But if you’re hoping my next line will read, “so direct mail is over”, I will disappoint you. Because it’s not. It’s still the channel with the highest response rates. And people who are […]
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 […]
Does your fundraising appeal need a makeover?
Does your fundraising appeal need a makeover? Are you under deadline and working on an appeal? You’ve probably heard you should write fast and edit slow. And so you should. But how do you turn that rambling first draft into an effective appeal – fast? There’s definitely an art to writing a great appeal. It […]
Direct mail – still not dead
Direct mail – still not dead Have you read Blackbaud’s 2016 Charitable Giving Report yet? There’s a great deal of information in this easy-to-read report. I recommend you download it. The report focuses much attention on online giving. And that channel is growing. But one sentence, in particular, stuck out to me, and I want to […]
Are your barriers creating passive donors?
Separate isn’t equal – or useful. So why create barriers to giving? Like you, I’m on the mailing list for many organizations. Some mail I always open and read. Some go right into the recycle bin or email trash. But there’s a trend I see – mostly with smaller organizations. Messaging is segregated. There’s “we’re […]