Communication

14 Oct On Membership Systems – Part 1

Posted at 05:38h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Q: How many times should you pester a donor?You should never (knowingly) “pester” a donor, period. The real question is this: “Where is the line between nuisance and helpful reminder?” I would answer the question this way: propose a target range for your renewal rate,...

07 Oct Why Not Try Asking for Money?

Posted at 20:23h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

What is the single most important thing you could change about your fall fundraising letter that would make the most difference in your returns? The single most important thing you can do to improve your returns this year is to ask for a specific amount...

30 Sep Rally Reflections

Posted at 18:06h in Communication, Featured, Uncategorized 0 Comments

At the Land Trust Alliance Rally, I particularly enjoyed this year's speaker Andy Goodman, who talked about the importance of good story-telling. Another blogger, Vu Le talks about how to make the most of downtime to cultivate new ideas and strengthen relationships....

23 Sep One Time to Give the Money Back

Posted at 11:19h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Uncategorized 0 Comments

If a major donor requests that their gift be treated as anonymous – even from the board, give the money back....

16 Sep Independent Review of Development Systems Can be Helpful

Posted at 08:02h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Featured 0 Comments

Similar to a financial audit, or an academic peer review, the Development Audit is an independent review of everything an organization is doing to raise money....

09 Sep See you at Rally!

Posted at 05:32h in Board Development, Communication, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Next week is Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference in Providence, Rhode Island. Anita O’Gara and I will team up to present The Surprising Secrets of Direct Mail Success on Friday. Peter McKeever and I will present A Board for All Seasons, which we like...

02 Sep Resist Replacing Paper Newsletters with ENews

Posted at 17:34h in Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

If you switch off your printed newsletters in favor of electronic substitutes, you will lose members and donors....

26 Aug A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters – Part 2

Posted at 05:51h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Last week I wrote the first half dozen rules for writing better fundraising letters this fall. I based it in part on an excellent book that Jeff Brooks wrote several years ago that I wish I had written: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications. This...

19 Aug A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters – Part 1

Posted at 07:26h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Jeff Brooks wrote a book several years ago that I wish I had written: A Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications. Based on his information, coupled with my own experience, I have a dozen rules to live by this fall. Here are Rules 1-6. Check back...

12 Aug Digital Marketing

Posted at 05:40h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Raise money first. If you suck at raising money, investing time and energy in digital marketing will not help. It will only distract you from getting better at raising money....