I remember reading an article in Fast Company last summer with a headline of, "Charities are Spamming You Because it Works." I’ll admit, at first I was a little incensed that a business publication would be broadly painting nonprofits as spammers. It’s a poor choice of words when what they [...]
Let’s face it: sometimes nonprofits don’t want to talk about the fact that they need money to operate and carry out their missions. Asking for money from your donors can be uncomfortable or make you feel like a salesperson, but your donors’ gifts are essential to the organization's success. So, [...]
When a problem seems overwhelming, donors can’t wrap their brains around solving it. It seems too daunting. They feel their gift will be a mere drop in the bucket. It feels to the donor like a losing proposition. As a result, they do nothing. Your task is to persuade people [...]
It’s long been a time-honored custom to publish nonprofit annual reports, showcasing your organization’s mission, programs, accomplishments and financials, for supporters and the general public. Yet it’s a resource-intensive endeavor that bears examination if you want to maximize your return on investment. Begin by asking: Why are we doing this? [...]
Divide and conquer may be a good strategy on the battlefield. For nonprofit fundraising, not so much. If you want to succeed with donor-centered communications you need to stop fighting and start inviting. I mean this in two important ways: Stop fighting donors by trying to ‘hit them up’ and [...]
If your experience is anything like mine, then your direct mail appeal is probably a large source of income for your nonprofit. Or maybe you wish it was a larger source of income than it currently is. Here are four practical steps that you can take to improve your direct [...]
Annual reports have a bad reputation at many nonprofits. A time suck. A poor use of donor dollars. Something maybe the intern could work on. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your annual report can be a vital tool to retain and grow gifts from the donors you [...]
Right now, year-end fundraising season probably seems far away. Far away enough that you’ve got other tasks to prioritize. You’ll get around to planning your year-end campaign in the Fall when it’s a higher priority. But here’s the thing – if you want to have a successful campaign – year-end [...]
Non-profits are operating in a time that is increasingly noisy and fraught with competition for attention. Organizations have taken to using frequency and volume of communications to capture that attention. But as I tell my students and clients, trying to be the loudest megaphone is not a viable strategy for [...]
Nonprofits turn to awareness campaigns to increase their visibility and ride the wave of relevancy, often as part of designated awareness weeks and months. While there’s some good advice out there for putting together a campaign that drives people to act, the traditional marketing funnel is failing us when it [...]
A nonprofit faces a financial crisis. The sky seems to be falling. The temptation is to put those money woes at the top of the list as to why you and your volunteers are fundraising. The urgency provides the case for supporting the annual campaign, right? In the long run, [...]
At this point, it may be safe to say that we know the value of content for our organization’s fundraising program. Content – especially for annual giving donors – helps us build relationships by thanking, stewarding, and cultivating donors. It’s content that does the legwork when we can’t make personal [...]