Personalization

This week's message is short and sweet—do not try to personalize your online marketing communication if you can't do it right. Just don't.

To get a handle on what’s in store for 2015, NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share these 70 trends for this new year — everything from leadership to staffing to fundraising and more.

Variable data printing (VDP) can be leveraged to make a direct-mail piece stand out to a prospect. In this video, Direct Marketing IQ's Paul Bobnak takes a look at how Patient First, a medical care provider with the mission to make access to quality medical care as convenient and cost-effective as possible, uses VDP on personalized maps in its direct mail.

It’s no secret that nonprofit marketing trends have shifted within the past few years. Technology has advanced, online fundraising has grown and the way donors like to interact with nonprofits has evolved. As these changes occur, it’s become increasingly important for organizations to be mindful of how supporters want to be engaged. With that said, here’s a roundup of three major nonprofit marketing trends that any savvy organization should keep an eye on: content, mobile and personalization.

Personalization is a great tool for marketing and fundraising … but there is a limit to how close you should get.

Your best bet for implementing a balanced fundraising approach is to begin with a detailed fundraising plan and calendar.

Three fundraising professionals shared 30 ideas for fundraising success at Fund Raising Day in New York. Here are ideas 21-30.

Amnesty International is a fundraising organization that sends many different kinds of direct mail, but this oversize mail piece is a standout for a few reasons, including the outer and what's inside.

Today, every fundraiser understands that direct mail can't do it all. Any campaign needs the other channels, to some extent ... and ideally on the same page. And while the closely coordinated direct-mail and e-mail campaigns are both popular and successful today, perhaps the most effective demonstration of the offline-online marriage is a personalized URL (PURL) campaign.

I deliberately became a lapsed donor (13+ months) in early 2010 in order to receive more reinstatement and acquisition mail, to see how nonprofits would endeavor to woo me back. Recent lapsed-donor direct-mail efforts from St. Labre and CARE really stand out.