Write your direct mail letter like you'd write to a close friend. Make it warm, personal and informal. Adhering to the APA and MLA style guides might make the brand...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#3)
In this multi-channel world, anywhere from 10% - 30% of the responses to your direct mail campaign will be captured online. Make sure your website is optimized for giving. And...
Blackbaud’s updated Index of Charitable Giving
Click the image below to download Blackbaud's most recent Index for Charitable Giving (released this morning):
Creating Your Development Action Plan – Part 2 of 2
This is the second half of my 2 part series on Creating Your Development Action Plan. In Part 1 we covered why you need a plan and how you should...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#2)
Maximize the Return On Investment (ROI) in your direct mail cultivation (renewal) stream by segmenting your donors based on Recency (recent date of last gift), Frequency (total # of gifts...
Creating Your Development Action Plan – Part 1 of 2
NOTE: This is Part 1 of a 2 Part blog post on Creating Your Development Action Plan. In this first installment we'll cover the reasons why you need a written...
10 Fundraising Best Practices
As you launch your 2012 fundraising program, I hope these 10 Fundraising Best Practices from 2011 add value to your efforts. 1. Direct Mail 2. E-mail 3. Online Donation Pages...
Evaluating Fundraising Agencies and Consultants
Can I get a few direct mail samples and some pricing info from you? Ugh. These questions, more than any others, frustrate me as a nonprofit fundraiser. I got an...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#1)
When building your direct mail acquisition list strategy, focus on behavior-based targeting instead of demographics. You'll get higher response rates and greater likelihood of long-term donor retention by targeting people...
Fundraising Best Practice Series: Volume 10, Donor Stewardship
This final installment of the Fundraising Best Practice Series focuses on donor stewardship. It's fitting given that many of you are probably knee deep in thank you notes, thank you calls...