Personalization

8 Storytelling Starter Tips for Your Nonprofit
March 29, 2016 at 10:36 am

Is there one single narrative that can entirely define your organization, its mission and your donor experiences from both sides of the giving equation? Doubtful. One thing I don’t doubt, though: Storytelling is important. In fact, emotionally compelling storytelling is the foundation of every successful fundraising program...

Emails Should Do More Than Inform
March 16, 2016 at 11:22 am

Recognition is at the heart of everything Turnkey provides for peer-to-peer clients. Recognition manifests in many forms—products, personal outreach, social media call outs, thank-you notes and more. The whole point of recognition is to install and reinforce a self-label...

10 Killer Email-Marketing Trends to Watch in 2016
February 29, 2016 at 10:40 am

After being left in the lurch for some time, email marketing again came revitalized in 2016. With an array of new approaches in email design and automation, it is likely to be a great year that is full of promises for email marketing....

Is Your Recurring-Donation Program Working for Your Donors?
February 23, 2016 at 10:33 am

Donors are the lifeblood of every nonprofit, but retaining them long-term is an ongoing challenge. Recently, nonprofits have had success improving donor retention through recurring-donation programs. The benefits of recurring-donation programs Recurring-donation programs are a win-win for both nonprofits and donors. For nonprofits, they are an easy and effective way to retain donors and increase…

The Importance of Donor Segmentation, Personalization
February 9, 2016 at 10:23 am

When it comes to our communications, we all have good intentions, don’t we? And then that thing intervenes. You know, life. You know you aren't communicating with your donors often enough, and you’re probably right. You aren’t using direct mail to its full potential. Identifying your problem is the first step. Figuring out how to solve it, though, ultimately will be an ongoing endeavor. You need to start now...

Whose Story Are You Telling?
January 7, 2016 at 10:11 am

Cathy is the executive director of a small, worthy nonprofit focused on the elderly. In the midst of her planning for 2016, she reached out to me with a familiar concern. How do I persuade prospective donors to actually invest in my organization? In fundraising lingo, “How do I convert more prospects into donors?”...

How to Use Donor Identity to Aid in Retention
January 4, 2016 at 10:15 am

Any of you who have read my blog posts over the last four years are well aware of my focus on one of the most important concepts in fundraising success: donor retention. Because of that focus, the research on the subject spans every nook and cranny possible for fresh insights and techniques. Needless to say,…

Calling All Procrastinators: 7 Secrets to Raise More Money With Your Year-End Appeal
December 8, 2015 at 9:45 am

You know that you should have a solid communications calendar in place, one that combines touches with direct asks throughout the year. But if your organization relies on its year-end direct-mail appeals to raise the majority of its funding, here are seven tips to get you headed in the right direction...

Courting Young Donors, Experts Urge Focus on Tangibles
November 24, 2015 at 10:16 am

University at Albany advancement administrators conduct one-on-one meetings with young alumni, individually connecting with potential donors to convince them to give back to the institution. The goal, assistant director of young alumni programs Brian Rudolph said, is to instill giving habits in the recent graduates. Though the tactic is expensive, it is effective, he said. Philanthropy…