Acquisition

When a nonprofit organization is looking to trim its fundraising costs, acquisition often gets nomi

What is it about swallowing bugs that is so darn funny? One of my favorite movie scenes of all times is the uppity socialite Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) riding in the back of good ol’ boy Dean Proffitt’s (Kurt Russell) pickup truck in the movie “Overboard” and declaring with her upper-crust elocution, “I just ……

Take a look at the Human Rights Campaign's successful online/offline conversion efforts — and the direct-mail package, dubbed "Right Side of History," that also allowed it to expand its traditional base of support.

Three fundraising professionals shared their "20 Big Ideas for Small Nonprofits" at the 2012 Washington Nonprofit Conference. Here are ideas 11-15.

To acquire a large number of new donors quickly, nonprofits often turn to direct mail. It's cheap (well, compared to an option like direct-response television); you can target a specific geographic area or demographic; and over time you recoup your costs, identify potential major donors and planned-giving prospects, and build a loyal — and profitable — group of supporters.

A look at the 2011 DMFA Acquisition Package of the Year, Center for Urban Community Services NYC Note Cards Package: Scenes of the City We Love.

A look at the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association Package of the Year winner: the Fountain House Flying Cat Pads and Cards renewal campaign, with Amy Tripi of Tripi Consulting.

Once in a while, get out of the office. Don't go visit your family or fellow laborers in the fundraising profession. Talk to people who could be donors to your organization and who don't know their way around a direct-mail package. Find out what they are reading and doing. They may just give you a hint about a new place to look for donors.

Working with a list broker can be the best "cure" for a lackluster direct-mail donor acquisition program if you choose the right partner for your project.

At a time when for-profit theaters may be feeling the pressure to cave in to the economic pinch and roll out the revivals, nonprofit San Francisco-based American Conservatory Theater is still taking chances.