I worked my way through my snail mail inbox today and here’s what I found: It’s a thank you card from Regan Walsh of Flying Horse Farms. Here’s what was inside: A brief, but personal and heartful thank you for the free webinar I did last week (Note: timely, related to my “gift” and…
It’s hard to keep up with how fast communications technology is changing, let alone the implications of those changes. Even if you can’t immediately implement all of the best practices you hear about, it’s important that you understand where our field is headed — and that includes toward much more personalized and integrated communications. But…
I love receiving emails from readers or people who have seen me speak on how they handle their organization’s communications. Today I’m sharing a note from Theresa Swartwood, Director of Public Relations & Marketing, at Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Inc. Theresa shared her strategy for sending thank-you notes, and I think it is a great example of…
The apology that Susan G. Komen for the Cure issued on Friday was the first step. The obligatory resignations are next. But if Komen is going to repair the damage done by its behavior last week, they have quite a few more steps in the process. “What should Komen do next?” That’s the question many…
Tom Ahern is my go-to guy for all things direct mail. Afraid your direct mail piece goes too far and will solicit a negative response? Tom explains why that may not be a bad thing. Plus he quotes one of my other favorite fundraising bloggers, Jeff Brooks. If you are interested in Tom critiquing your…
(Updates to this post can be found at the bottom.) Yesterday afternoon, and continuing into today, I believe we are witnessing the accidental rebranding of what is surely one of America’s biggest and most well-known, and even well-loved, nonprofit brands. Komen for the Cure, it seems, is no longer a breast cancer charity, but a…
Welcome to another round of Mixed Links! We’ve got some great social media and communications posts today. This post by Kari Saratovsky not only sheds some light on the recent rise in Pinterest, but also shares some great infographics on Millennials. Check out The Millennial Story, Told By Infographic(s). Think Facebook was confusing before? Beth Kanter…
We love to hear success stories about the nonprofits we work with. Elexa Liu works with Hope Worldwide in Hong Kong and has participated in many of our training events both online and in person (Yes, she flew all the way to Seattle to take part in the Total Focus Marketing Plan Workshop I teach…
After taking a year off, I’ve done it again: I gave $25 year-end gifts to 20 national nonprofits that I had not previously supported so that I can see what kind of donor communications I get throughout the course of year. I’ve called this the “What I Got When I Gave” experiment, but you might…
As I’ve said before, presidential campaigns are great for nonprofit marketers and fundraisers because they give us a sneak peek into how we’ll be engaging our supporters and motivating them to volunteer and donate in the years to come. The current edition of Newsweek has a very interesting description of what the Obama campaign is…
I’m writing a new e-book to be published this spring by our good friends at Network for Good on how you move from doing a print newsletter to an email newsletter. If you’ve been through the process, you know it’s not as easy as it sounds! Do you keep doing the print version, or for…
Lisa Maher has been sharing guest posts with us this year about the kinds of direct mail communications she received after donating to several nonprofits last year. This is her third and final post (you can also read part one and part two.) Guest Post by Lisa Maher We are coming to a close on…
