Do you want your donors to stick around? Donor retention continues (rightly) to be a hot topic. It risks being like the weather, though: everybody’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing anything about it. Let me share an example from my past. I thought about an organization I used to work for. Riverfront Recapture built and programs […]
What good politicians can teach us
I’ll admit to being a political junkie. I’ll be glued to the set tonight, watching returns until I fall asleep. The drama is better than most entertainment television has to offer. And of course, the stakes are huge. Think about all the people who don’t vote. In the US, only about 40% of people vote in […]
You just haven’t earned it yet, baby: 5 ways to start
Every time I hear a frustrated fundraiser talk about donors who aren’t giving, that lyric pops into my head. (In case you don’t know, it’s thanks to Steven Patrick Morrissey and Johnny Marr, of course). I know it’s human nature to look around for someone to blame when things don’t go as planned. But we […]
Writing, simply
I was helping a client with an appeal the other day. I found myself explaining some of the choices I made in the letter. At this point, they were almost automatic for me. I realized not everyone knows there are some simple changes you can make that will improve your appeal. When I get a rough draft, […]
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 […]