How (Bad) Marketing and Branding can Kill Your Fundraising
Donor-Centered Fundraising, Fundraising Strategy, Marketing & CommunicationsWHY do you have marketing, communications and branding for your organization? It's important to ask these questions: WHY does marketing exist? What is the purpose of our newsletter? What is the purpose of our website? What…
7 Steps to Fundraising Success This Year: Strategic Tips for Your Board and CEO
Annual Giving, Board Members & Fundraising, Fundraising Strategy, Marketing & CommunicationsThe new year is a great time to take stock of your fundraising strategy. Here are my strategic tips for board members and CEOs. These will help build a well-oiled fundraising machine inside your organization - something we all want! 1. Go…
One Thing You Can and Must Do to Boost Your Year-End Fundraising Totals
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Marketing & Communications, Year-End Fundraising CampaignJust think, 30% of your entire annual giving will occur in December. AND 10% of your entire annual giving is about to come in the door the last 3 days of this month. So do I have your attention? Who is going to get your donors' dollars? Here…
112 Tips to Raise More Money by Direct Mail Fundraising
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Marketing & Communications, Year-End Fundraising Campaign Direct mail fundraising is a major workhorse for all nonprofits. And, yes, online giving and digital appeals are important - but donors pay far more attention to a paper letter that arrives in their mailbox. Here's a smart guide to help you…
5 Tips for Making Your Donors Love You
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Donor Cultivation, Fundraising Strategy, Marketing & CommunicationsYour donor has just sent in another gift! Hurray! So you reply with a wonderful, personal thank you note. And then you call her to say thanks. In addition to the paper letter that you send. Then what? You have to communicate with her…
How to Ask Your Donors for Feedback So They’ll Love You Even More
Annual Giving, Donor Cultivation, Major Gift Fundraising, Marketing & CommunicationsHave you tried asking your donors for feedback? This is a huge new trend that smart fundraisers are spearheading. Why can donor feedback be so important? How can you send communications to donors if you don't know if they like what…
How to Nail Your Online Messaging to Your Donors
Annual Giving, Marketing & CommunicationsKivi Leroux Miller of Nonprofitmarketingguide.com is one of the smartest communications gurus anywhere. What I like about Kivi’s approach is that she cuts to the chase - no fluff, no bull. It’s straightforward advice on how to shape your…
6 Steps You Can Take Today to Improve Your Donor Retention
Annual Giving, Donor Cultivation, Donor-Centered Fundraising, Fundraising Strategy, Marketing & CommunicationsWe all know that donor retention is where the easy money is for you, your team, and your organization. It's the key to sustainable fundraising for your organization. Getting current donors to renew is far, far easier than bringing in new…
Encourage Planned Gifts By Telling a Bequest Story
Marketing & Communications, Planned GivingFor the first time ever, I have a guest post today! I'd like to introduce you to Claire Meyerhoff, who is my favorite Planned Giving marketing expert. As owner of the PG Agency and Editorial Director at Planned Giving Marketing.com, Claire…
18 Tips to Create a Wildly Profitable Monthly Giving Program
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Marketing & CommunicationsI am so impressed with the power of a monthly giving program. Here's why: It creates ongoing predictable cash flow. It's low cost and returns a high RIO. It takes your current donor base and pulls twice (or more!) as much funding…
Newsletter Strategies That Will Open Donors’ Hearts and Wallets
Donor Cultivation, Donor-Centered Fundraising, Marketing & CommunicationsYour wonderful newsletter just may be a total waste of time. Even worse, it might be HURTING you and your cause. Why? Because it is boring! It may not be boring to you but it sure may be boring to the people you hope will read it. And boring…
Dump the Cliches: Words and Phrases Fundraisers Love to Hate!
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Marketing & Communications, Year-End Fundraising CampaignWow, I hit a nerve last week when I talked about my Least Favorite fundraising words. For the record, my own personal award for most disliked word goes to "underserved." I think that word is a very lame effort to describe the wonderful people…
20 Best Practices for Monthly Giving Programs
Annual Giving, Asking for Donations, Marketing & CommunicationsDo you want a fundraising strategy that creates ongoing predictable cash flow? One that is low cost, and returns a high RIO? That creates a wonderful prospect pool for planned and major gifts? That gets donors to quadruple (or more) their…
Why Did Doris Buffet Personally Answer This Fundraising Letter?
Asking for Donations, Marketing & CommunicationsYou won't believe it but my friend Jacqueline wrote a "cold" letter appealing to Doris Buffett - and Ms. Buffett actually responded with a PERSONAL phone call. And, ultimately she made a gift. When Jacqueline told me about this, I didn't believe…