I’m a sucker for a good metaphor, and I love the one that Marc Pitman uses to describe fundraising: “I like to think of the fundraiser as holding an electrical cord (the donor’s interests) and facing a wall of outlets (various aspects of the fundraiser’s organization). The fundraiser’s job is to get to know the…
This Thursday (April 7, 2011), I’m presenting a webinar called “Rethinking Your Nonprofit Newsletter: Making It More Relevant for Today.” I first presented this webinar back in September, and one of the big questions that people wanted to discuss was: Is it better to keep your email newsletter to members only or make it openly…
Online fundraising will be a huge part of the conferences I’m attending this week. Just in time, Convio has released the latest update from its Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study. The report analyzes a variety of data (from fundraising to email files to web visits) from approximately 600 Convio clients who have collectively raised more…
Love using storytelling in fundraising? Weigh in on this question about how you actually do it, from Barry Wein, the marketing manager of the Wisconsin Historical Foundation. I share my thoughts below, and I hope you’ll add yours to the comments. “I have a question for you about storytelling messaging consistency across touch points over the course…
During my recent webinar on new and improved nonprofit annual reports (recording available to All-Access Pass Holders), I said that I would love to see a nonprofit do its annual report as an oversized postcard (think that big size popular with political candidates). This format has lots of advantages: The small space forces you to…
During the Writing to Raise More Money webinar last week (recording available to All-Access Pass holders), I talked about four ways to improve your fundraising copy: 1. Cue an Emotional Response 2. Make the Request Feel Personal 3. Convey Urgency 4. Ask Clearly At the end of the webinar, I asked participants which of the…
Over the last month or two I’ve received lots of questions from communications and development directors about third-party fundraising applications like Jumo and Crowdrise. The same question came up this morning at the Nonprofit Marketing in 2011 workshop I did this morning for the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. I’m personally taking a wait and see…
Here are five common questions I get about nonprofit annual reports, along with my answers. If you are still trying to figure out how to produce your 2010 nonprofit annual report, join us tomorrow’s webinar (2/8/11 at 1:00 pm Eastern, 10:00 am Pacific), where I’ll explain how to create a “New and Improved Nonprofit Annual…
Tomorrow (Thursday, 2/3/11) I’m presenting a webinar I call “Writing Thank You Notes That Inspire Future Gifts.” I firmly believe that the thank-you note after the first gift is the first step in getting the second gift. The standard, boring, impersonal form letter or email receipt doesn’t cut it. During the webinar, I’ll share lots…
If we agree that we should develop messaging that resonates with our donors, what should we do when that messaging might be offensive to others? Take the case of donors who make substantial gifts to charities rather than leaving assets to their “good for nothing” adult children. I presented a “Storytelling for Fundraisers” workshop in…
Putting aside for a moment whether we should call them “target audiences” or not, it’s always good to remember that, as a nonprofit communicator or fundraiser, you are very rarely the kind of person that you are trying to communicate with. Even if you match the demographics, the fact that you are employed by your…
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll remember the “thank you” note experiment I did in 2008 and 2009. More recently, Marta Lindsey’s experiment on keeping all of the nonprofit direct mail she received for a year was also a big hit. So, I started thinking, what if a bunch of us picked…
