I’m coming off of my Spring speaking schedule, which means I’ve talked to hundreds of nonprofit communicators and fundraisers over the last few months, trying my best to help them work through their toughest nonprofit communications, marketing, and fundraising challenges. There’s usually one person in the room who sits quietly, often with what appears to…
Thinking of axing your donor newsletter because it costs more than it’s worth? WAIT! It’s not the idea of the donor newsletter that’s wrong – it’s how you’re approaching it that’s wrong. Luckily we have a smart guy like Tom Ahern around to set us straight! Tom knows how to take a floundering charity newsletter and…
On our trip across Montana last week teaching nonprofits about clear, consistent, and compelling messaging, we heard some great examples of nonprofits doing their best to make the complicated work they do more easy to understand. One of those examples came from Tara Jensen, director of public affairs at the Montana Budget & Policy Center (MBPC).…
In the 2014 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, a majority of survey participants with every job title, and every age group, said they felt overworked. There are simply too many marketing choices available, and too little time to get it all done well. So how do you find the balance that allows you to market your nonprofit successfully…
Last we heard from Kristan Allen, she was helping us with our core messaging. Today she is here to tell you how to get a toddler to follow your directions…just kidding! That’s almost impossible. But she can give you some tips on making sure your writing is clear and easily understood. ~Kivi Guest Post by…
Don’t complain about donor attrition – do something about it! Rachel Muir, VP of Training at Pursuant, shows you how it can be done in today’s post. For more with Rachel and how to build a better donor base, join us for How to Build a Strong Major Gifts Portfolio next Tuesday, May 27th (A recording…
If you weren’t one of the 1,000+ who registered originally for our webinar, How to Build a Donor Communications Plan That Will Make Them Fall in Love, you can now get the recording too! A recent study on nonprofit donor engagement found that donors gave two-thirds of their annual charitable donations to one favorite charity. How do you become…
I’m accepting applications for the July – December 2104 session of our Mentoring Program for Nonprofit Communications Directors. “What the heck is nonprofit marketing mentoring?” you might be wondering. I think of mentoring as a combination of training, advising and coaching. Through training, I tell you how to do it. With advising (or consulting), I…
We’ve been working with fundraising expert and all-around good guy Tom Ahern for a few years now. Tom is legendary as a guidebook author, donor-centered copywriter, and speaker on the conference circuit. If we introduced you to Tom, you probably know him from our direct mail or donor newsletter e-clinics or from our marketing bequests…
Board or executives telling you that you need a billboard, or ads on Pandora or NPR or some other expensive form of advertising? Aside from the fact that you probably can’t afford that, would it work even if you could? In response to suggestions (or demands) like this, I suggest you go into what I…
I’ve talked to more than a few communications directors who are stymied in their work by their “visionary” bosses. These communications directors are often in awe of the visionary’s big ideas, creativity, and insights. They really do admire them, and often wish they themselves could be so bold. But that’s where the love stops, and…
I am loving that so many of you are experimenting with different ways to publish your annual report – and then sharing your stories with us! Matt Higgs of GreenUP in Canada tells us how they decided to do things differently for their 2013 annual report and how they came up with an awesome infographic the community…
