Jeff Brooks

During their presentation, “30 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Your Hour of Creative Power," at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Fund Raising Day in New York held last Friday, Jeff Brooks, creative director at TrueSense Marketing; Moira Kavanagh Crosby, president of MKDM; and Dennis Lonergan, president of Eidolon Communications, provided direct-response and online fundraising strategies to make your fundraising solicitations stand out from the crowd. Here, Crosby outlines her 10 strategies from the session.

During the first-ever FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo held on May 20 (and available on-demand until Aug. 24), FS columnist and creative director at TrueSense Marketing Jeff Brooks provided 25 good ideas and even one bad one for fundraisers. Here is a rundown of his ideas from his session, “Feel the Power!”

Donors give because they want to give, want to help your mission, not because they want some grand award or a parade thrown in their honor for their good deeds. However, donors are human, just like the people your organization helps. And people have the need to feel appreciated. That's why acknowledging your donors — thanking them for their generous gifts and support — is so important. If donors don't feel appreciated, they may get turned off and lend their support to another worthy cause.

From To the Point by Jocelyn Harmon
"You wouldn’t start to build a house by picking up a hammer; why start your marketing plan by creating a Facebook page? Stop thinking tactics. Develop a strategy before choosing which fundraising tools to use. Strategic planning sounds intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. All it means is putting goals and objectives ahead of techniques or tools."

From Easier Said Than Done by Jeff Brooks
"Your brand guidelines are meant to sharpen and define your message and make it consistent. But there’s a fatal flaw: The guidelines are all about you, not about your donors. They’re all about self-focused communication, and that will hurt your fundraising."

From Editor's Note by Margaret Battistelli
"It’s a new year … the perfect time to shake off bad habits, let in some light, and embrace ideas and practices that will move you toward your goals."

Editor's Note: Had there been an Advisor scheduled the Tuesday before Christmas, we would have picked up this clever post from Jeff Brooks' Future Fundraising Now blog back then. But it was too good to pass up, so keep those visions of donor-dollar sugarplums dancing in your head as you read ...

I'm happy to introduce everyone to FS' new ?managing editor, Janet Spavlik, who comes to us from our sister publications, Publishing Executive and Book Business. You can reach her at jspavlik@napco.com or 215.238.5317. I hope you'll all take a minute to welcome her to the joyous, abundant world of nonprofit fundraising.