30 Ideas to Enhance Fundraising Direct-Response Creative, Part 2

18. Upgrade your donors to maximize their value
Offer ways for donors to enhance their giving, whether it's monthly sustainer programs, segmenting them into new audiences, testing different timing, offering incentives for increased giving, providing different channels for them to respond to or even just making larger asks.

19. Some of the best fundraising letters don't ask for money
While it may sound counterintuitive, especially given the importance of asking in the sector, sometimes providing no specific ask in certain materials can bring in money as well. The key is to still have a way for donors to send gifts.

For example, newsletters, informational materials or annual reports can bring in revenue by simply including a reply envelope — no ask necessary. In addition, non-fundraising messages are critical for successful online programs, so include links to your donation page even if the call to action is not giving. And thank-you calls can often lead to gifts even if the purpose is just to say thanks.

20. Sometimes you have to 'take the money and run!'
Nontraditional donor involvement vehicles such as sweepstakes or raffles, while not ideal for mission-driven donors, can generate terrific revenue. For examples, raffle appeal respondents make up 46 percent of Consumer Reports' total fundraising revenue — 27 percent of donors give only to the raffle offer. However, the raffle average gift is 30 percent lower than mission donors.

For KQED San Francisco, it nets about $500,000 a year through a sweepstakes campaign. About 215,000 people receive the package, including active donors, lapsed donors and high-net-worth supporters, and there are four efforts throughout the yearlong campaign. KQED sends about 600,000 overall through the four efforts, and "early bird" prizes and deadlines are included throughout the campaign. About one out of every four or five entries sends a gift, and 51 percent of its sweepstakes donors only give to the sweepstakes campaign, while 49 percent also gave to mission-oriented appeals.