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Unlocking Support: The Art of Clear Communication in Nonprofits

Clear communication might be your best tool for raising money. Recently, Ephraim Gopin shared a funny/not-so-funny post from McSweeney’s. It was titled: We dare you to figure out what our nonprofit does. And it nails it. Do you want to make me really cranky? Use language like what they mock here. Unclear. Full of buzzwords. […]

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

7 more quick tips to improve your donor communications

Do your donor communications need a few quick tips? Improve your donor communications… I know. I just wrote about this. But there’s a bit more… and if you’re like me, more ideas are hard to resist. You’ve probably heard you should write fast and edit slowly. And so you should. But how do you turn […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor communications, Fundraising, Nonprofit 1 Comment

Want better fundraising results? Rethink your team

Fundraising results depend on the whole organization You might know that I spent a good number of years working for regional theaters. It’s where my nonprofit career began. And theater is still close to my heart. But over the years – whether in my first theater, where I managed the box office, or in subsequent […]

Filed Under: Arts Fundraising, Blog, Fundraising staff Tagged With: donor relationships, Fundraising Leave a Comment

Improve your fundraising letters fast

You can improve your fundraising letter today Here’s what I know about writing good fundraising letters: You can practice and study for years. And still, you feel like you’re only scratching the surface. There’s always something new because we’re always learning something new. So perfection will always be out of reach. But don’t let the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, direct mail, Fundraising 14 Comments

Why “because” matters to your ask

Because is a word kids come to dread. I remember being a kid and getting a very unsatisfying answer to some questions. My questions were usually “Why?” or more often “Why not?” And the unsatisfying answer was “Because” or worse, “Because I said so.” Does that sound familiar to you? It was infuriating, of course. […]

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

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