Photo Credit: https://flic.kr/p/79pL7r Want to squeeze more mileage from a great fundraising or advocacy email? Send it again. Sending a fundraising or advocacy email again to non-responders — subscribers who did not open, click, donate or take action the first time — can sometimes raise as much, or produce as many actions, as the original send.…
“Sharing Your Progress” season is coming up fast. That’s when you talk about the highlights and victories of your year, and thank donors for helping you make it happen. We usually see these communications start in mid-November, peaking around Thanksgiving, and then leading into year-end appeals. Regardless of the format that your communications take, you’ll…
Are you getting ready for Giving Tuesday? A little lost on where to start? The good news is, so many organizations want to help you succeed (and, let’s face it, use their product, too), that there’s no shortage of help for beginners. From case studies to campaign planners, webinars to checklists, there’s a lot of free…
We often talk about how your thank yous may be the most important communication you send. Below you’ll find some of the most common errors you make when thanking donors who gave online. ~Kristina Guest Post by Gretchen Barry of NonprofitEasy Online fundraising may no longer be the wild west of the nonprofit community, but…
Your reaction when your Executive Director says, “This looks TOO nice.” via GIPHY Heard this one before? The theory is that donors will think you wasted their money if any of your communications look like they cost you cash money to produce them. This theory holds that all of that money should be going to programs…
I hear comments like these all the time — and these are real comments from our recent survey . . . I spend too much time doing things that aren’t important and don’t have time left for what really matters. My “do this eventually” list is growing and out of control. I am…
During our direct mail appeal letter training, we invariably get asked about appeal letter length: How many pages should our letter be? Anyone have great success with anything over 2 pages? Everyone on my team is very afraid of anything over a page. Direct Mail expert Tom Ahern shoots down the one-page myth immediately. In his words,…
Is Giving Tuesday just a blip? A giving day only big nonprofits can pull off? Something to skip? Nope. According to a new Giving Tuesday report by Blackbaud, Giving Tuesday has definitely made a dent in online giving. Take a look. Double-Digit, Year-Over-Year Growth in Online Donations Since 2012 Online Average Gift Amounts Exceed $100 for Most Organizations…
Want to get donors all jazzed up before an online fundraising campaign? Try the “wins” blog post, a numbered summary of the good your donors made possible in the recent past. I’ve tried this tactic with three clients over the past 18 months, each with excellent results. Take a look. American Heart Association For AHA’s year-end…
Session #8 of our Communications Director Mentoring Program starts July 1, and we are already half-way full. For the first time, we are offering two tracks, one with a “Fundraising Emphasis” and the other with a “Community Engagement” Emphasis, with a cap of 10 people per track. The Fundraising Emphasis track will be customized to…
Fundraising expert Tom Ahern is cranking out some great stuff for us this year! We just finished the first session of 2015 of his Ahern Writing Academy for Fundraisers including a BRAND NEW e-clinic on making the most of your landing and donation pages on your website. Tom is legendary as a guidebook author, donor-centered copywriter, and…
Looking to repurpose your direct mail appeals into email? Kerri has some great advice for you! ~Kivi 1. Thou Shalt Make Email SHORTER Than Direct Mail. Direct mail appeals clock in at well over 1,000 words, sometimes double and triple that. If you do that in email, no one will like you. While I’ve seen super…
