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Second notice

  My mailbox leaves me wondering. We’ve all been reading a lot about donor retention. Maybe so much talk it’s in danger of becoming just another buzz word. But I think it’s critically important. And I’ve seen how powerful a really engaged donor base can be. Organizations benefit from more support, sure. But there’s also […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: annual appeals, donor retention, thank you letters 10 Comments

It’s personal

Picture this: you walk to your mailbox. Inside, you find an envelope with a return address you recognize. “Real mail!” you think. You open that envelope first and in a hurry. Then you begin to feel confused. Disappointed.   “Dear Ms. LastName” it begins. “Because I am a caring person, I have been wondering how […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: appeal writing, donor retention, Donors, Letter Writing, stewardship, thank you letters 2 Comments

Put it in writing

It’s fun when something you should do is also something you enjoy doing. I’ve grown to truly enjoy sending hand-written thanks (and other notes) to our donors. It’s partly the challenge. For instance, after the end of the year, I had more than 70 in a backlog. That was one marathon note-writing session! But I […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: appeal writing, donor relations, donor-focused, thank you letters, thank you notes, writing for donors 4 Comments

Year-end YIKES? Keep this in mind.

If you haven’t got your plan down for the end of the year giving season, you’re probably too late for much of a plan. You’re going to have to improvise and run with it. That’s when some experience can help. Like an athlete’s muscle memory, good instincts can get you through. Here are some things […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog Tagged With: appeal letter, thank you letters, year-end plan Leave a Comment

Size matters. But don’t be too rough on the big guys.

Mighty Mouse

Do you work in a smaller nonprofit?  Chances are you do – in 2010 75% of nonprofits had annual budgets under $500,000. So you probably can’t turn to a well-oiled fundraising machine to coordinate complicated campaigns that cross multiple channels. We’re happy just to have a database, get the mail out on time, use email […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: Customer service, donor retention, donor-focused, small nonprofits, thank you letters 13 Comments

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Copyright © 2019 · Mary Cahalane · Hands-On Fundraising · P.O. Box 183 · Plantsville, CT 06479