Personalization

The year 2015 has been one of change and revolution, both in and outside marketing. As we approach the final stretch of this turbulent year, I thought it prudent to review some of the most prevalent talking points in marketing, and why they probably shouldn't be talking points in 2016. Not because these aspects of…

In today’s digital age, when so much of marketing takes place behind a computer screen, it’s sometimes difficult to remember one of the most important parts of successful marketing—that the whole purpose is to connect with people. Think of how quickly and simply you can send an email. With just a few clicks of the…

We often hear about the fundraisers who use false promises and manipulation to get gifts, but the vast majority are honest, hardworking and passionate about the causes they represent. But, I daresay, a lot of them are kind of stuck at mediocre. This is generally not a result of laziness or a lack of desire. Rather, fundraising is complex. If you want to go from “OK” to “Wow,” no matter how many fundraising hats you wear, here are some tips to keep you moving forward...

There is a big difference between simply knowing something about a person and truly knowing the person. Our ability to know a person requires that we have great familiarity with that individual. It’s through this process that we begin to understand whether a person’s behavior is the result of some episodic impulse or something the individual truly could not stop themselves from doing...

One of the best gifts you can give a donor is a photo of the people their gift is impacting. For donors, we would often frame a photo as a thank-you gift. More often than not, when we would make a follow-up visit to the donor’s office, we would see that framed photo proudly displayed...

Each community can believe in a nonprofit for a different reason. Nevertheless, it’s the specific, on-the-ground rationale that energizes support from each of the affected communities and constituencies. The difficulty arises when those driving the cause continue to proclaim the global goals without reference to the local goals...

When was the last time a “one-size-fits-all” or “all-inclusive” solution really worked out for you? There’s no doubt that it can be very convenient for a grocery store to offer every kind of food under the sun. But if you wanted great sushi, which would offer the best quality: a Japanese restaurant or a mega-chain…

Poor Spock. He’s caught between his tidy Vulcan logic and messy human emotion. Most of the time, he relies on Vulcan cool. That wouldn’t work well for fundraising, though. Human beings don’t make purely rational decisions. This isn’t my guess; it’s science. We make decisions in the older part of our brains. They’re based on…

The purpose of this post is to discuss how to close a gift in a golf outing. People pay to play in the outing and are typically asked to contribute additionally through raffles, auctions, etc., at the outing site. Another way to gain financial favor is to simply ask a prospect for a gift on the golf course. If I want to ask for a larger gift, I use the golf outing as cultivation time to match the prospect and organizational representatives who are responsible for priorities...

By embracing the attributes of the mid-funnel specifically, and the behavioral analytics that stem from this platform, fundraisers have a much clearer understanding of their supporters, which in turn allows for the development of more relevant, customized and personalized experiences and relationships that will result in far greater dividends to the organization.