Discover the Five Basic Story Types to Inspire Your Audience into Action and Get Your Nonprofit Creative Content Juices Flowing When searching for inspiration for your next newsletter, e-mail, or public appeal, consider examining the five tried and true story types to get your nonprofit creative content juices flowing. The [...]
How-To Write a Stellar Opening Statement That Will Draw Your Nonprofit Audience's Attention in Immediately What is the difference between content that captures your nonprofit audience's attention and draws them in and content that people just scroll past or send to âspam?â Itâs all about the hook. A hook is [...]
Okay, 2020 is over. Your year-end fundraising blitz is over. Now what? Do not simply take the money and run -- consider nonprofit gratitude. Think of January as âThank You Month.â Shower the donors you love with love⊠show them the way that you feel⊠things are gonna get much better [...]
Should you ask for and close gifts by Zoom? By telephone? Indeed, you should! Why? Because the number one reason people donât give is because they arenât asked. And the more up close and personal you make your ask, the more likely you are to get a positive â and [...]
Empathy in All and All in Empathy: Part 2  In Part 1 of this Blog series, Empathy in All and All in Empathy: Part 1 â How to Connect to Current Donors Through Empathic Storytelling we discussed how empathy helps promote action in your audience. When someone feels a connection to [...]
Empathy in All and All in Empathy: Part 1 "You never really understand a person, until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird Think about your e-mail inbox. How many of the [...]
Storytelling Ethics 101: Protecting Anonymity As a non-profit professional, chances are good youâve been told about the power of nonprofit stories â and if you havenât, now you have. Storytelling is one of the most effective forms of communication available because it humanizes your mission and connects your supporters in [...]
Are you finalizing your direct mail year-end appeal? Just a few simple edits could help you raise more! If your year-end appeal hasnât gone to print or your year-end email appeals are still in the draft folder, these tips can guide you through a few last-minute changes. Your appeal letter [...]
Iâm a sucker for makeovers, especially any kind of home makeover. Do you know what is just as consumable (not to mention important)? End of year appeal makeovers. Could your year-end fundraising appeal use a makeover? I have a handy-dandy free checklist you can run it through to see how [...]
Storytelling Ethics 101: How to Avoid Exploitation Storytelling is an essential element to effective communication. Nonprofit stories often play a key role in maximizing an organizationâs overall impact and income. But letâs face it, storytelling can be vulnerable. The human experience can be a delicate, complicated, and emotional at times. [...]
Donât hit âsendâ until⊠Youâve considered all these magic tricks to boost year-end response to your fundraising emails. And, by the way, if youâre not planning a lot of email communications you should know what youâre missing. Per different NextAfter studies, email brings in 199%... 666%.... 117%... more revenue than [...]
If you are like most nonprofits, youâve got a lot riding on your end of year fundraising success. Many organizations raise as much as half of their entire operating budget at end of year alone. With stakes that high, what could possibly go wrong? A LOT! Iâm detailing the worst [...]