Now is a good time to think back on all the best things that were made possible because of the appeal donations you received last year, and collect the best ones and share them with your donors in January. Call them....
To be most organizationally helpful, the process of strategic planning should be used to unify board and staff engagement and create buy-in. The process is as important as the result. ...
This week, I’d like to offer an overall strategy for your membership, or annual giving campaign. Done well and consistently applied, this system has proven to build loyalty over time and raise steadily increasing funds for operations....
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,...
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...
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...
If you switch off your printed newsletters in favor of electronic substitutes, you will lose members and donors....
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...
You can get out ahead of this November stress factory. Plus, you can probably raise more money in the process. Here are four things you can do right now that will help: 1. Write your fall fundraising letter NOW; 2. Get your mailing list ready...
I had a great time in Pennsylvania last weekend presenting at the Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference. One of the sessions I presented was called Secrets of High-Functioning Development Committees. I had originally envisioned this as a Rally session featuring a cast of actors who would play...