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7 simple things you can do now to energize your year-end appeal

Stressed about fundraising right now? Here are a few ways to energize your year-end appeal. 1. Eliminate the kitchen sink Chances are, no single donor can give your organization everything you need. And that’s good! Strong organizations are built with strong communities of people who all want to help a shared mission. So don’t ask […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog Tagged With: appeal writing, donor communications Leave a Comment

The why and how of fundraising

If you’re writing that year-end appeal or anything that goes to your donors, you’ll be more successful if you understand the “why” and “how” of fundraising. At first, you’d say it’s pretty easy, right? How is the way to do something, why is the reason you do something. “Why” and “how” matter to your fundraising […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, donor communications, Fundraising Leave a Comment

You are not your donor

Even if you are a donor to your organization, you see with different eyes. You’re not the donor you’re trying to reach. That’s always good to keep in mind. Because our opinions are shaped by so much that won’t affect how – or if – a donor decides to give. Here’s one example: My husband […]

Filed Under: Donor communications, Fundraising Tagged With: donor communications, Donors Leave a Comment

Eff the ineffable

Or, how to make your ask concrete, if you work for an arts organization. Arts lovers know that art can’t always be constrained by words. I spent a good part of my career as a staff person in an arts organization. Theater was my route into the nonprofit world. But my love for all kinds […]

Filed Under: Arts Fundraising, Blog, Donor communications, Fundraising Tagged With: appeal writing, arts organization, donor communications, Fundraising Leave a Comment

Fundraisers, what do we need to do now?

We live in frustrating, pain-inducing times. There’s war, there’s sickness, there’s hunger, there’s injustice, there’s needless death. Uvalde hit me hard. Those little ones and what they went through! It’s easy to feel powerless. But fundraisers, we need to act. I’ve been thinking – a lot – about the emotional impact of gun violence in […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: change the world, donor communications, donor relationships Leave a Comment

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