First Thing Tuesday

31 Mar Donor Strategies: Good News, Save the Date

Posted at 05:59h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Staff Development, Uncategorized 1 Comment

The most persistent barrier to successful major gift fundraising is that board members do not know the donors and donors don’t know the board. Two underused strategies for overcoming those barriers are Good News and Save the Date events....

24 Mar Researching Foundation/Corporate Grants and Calendaring Due Dates

Posted at 05:23h in Board Development, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Foundations, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Let’s nominate April as “Foundation Month” – the month where you lay out all your plans for the next twelve months related to foundations and corporate foundations....

17 Mar Print the First Renewal Letters Now

Posted at 05:59h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Right now, you know every member who will be renewing this year (assuming, of course, that you have members who renew every year). You know what they gave last year about this time. And you know what you will be asking them to give this...

10 Mar Editing Appeal Letters

Posted at 08:10h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

This week, we’ll take a longer look at a specific editing process for appeal letters. Much of it is counter-intuitive, so close your eyes and trust the advice....

03 Mar Spring Appeal Planning

Posted at 05:57h in Communication, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

First, think of a Spring Appeal as more of a member communication than a fundraising letter. Spring Appeals tend to be more challenging, but sending them and making them attractive enough to get opened can have significant communications benefits beyond simply asking for a donation....

24 Feb Writing Appeal and Recruitment Letters

Posted at 16:45h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Unlike renewal letters, appeal letters ARE complicated. Writing good appeal letters takes TIME. So why not start now – in February? Be creative. Make it FUN. But start writing it NOW to give yourself time to write it well....

17 Feb Writing Renewal Letters

Posted at 09:59h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Unlike recruitment and appeal letters, (See A Dozen Rules for Writing Better Fundraising Letters), renewal letters aren’t complicated. They are short and to the point. The essential “case” for giving is that they gave last year and the year before. It is good practice to...

10 Feb Writing Thank You Letters

Posted at 10:31h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

February is a month I’m devoting to writing well and with that writing, connecting more with the donors who sustain us. I invite you to join me....

03 Feb Take the Time to Write Well

Posted at 14:56h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

This year, I invite you to join me in writing differently. Let’s commit ourselves to anticipating more often. Getting ahead of the curve. Let our writing steep more. Write in such a way that our audiences will read it. Be more effective communicators....

27 Jan Do You Say Thank You Enough?

Posted at 05:49h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

I once read that organizations should thank their donors seven times. How do you even do that? Here are some ideas to get you thinking:...