What Happens When You Think Direct
Just like that, the ad is transformed into a revenue producer. It may not bring in a fortune, but it's reasonable to expect it will at least help pay for itself — not to mention generate a new name for your housefile.
Too often, communications vehicles are seen as a necessary expense. From this viewpoint, newsletters, magazines, advertisements, even websites are meant to enlighten and inform. They are not considered part of the revenue stream.
But actually, communications and development can, and should be, the soup and sandwich of fundraising. It's just matter of judiciously applying basic fundraising techniques to other media.
Next week I'll give some more concrete examples of how to put this strategy to work. This is one silo that, as soon as you tear it down, will produce measurable results.
- Categories:
- Creative
- Direct Mail
- Direct Response
Willis Turner believes great writing has the power to change minds, save lives, and make people want to dance and sing. Willis is the creative director at Huntsinger & Jeffer. He worked as a lead writer and creative director in the traditional advertising world for more than 15 years before making the switch to fundraising 20 years ago. In his work with nonprofit organizations and associations, he has written thousands of appeals, renewals and acquisition communications for every medium. He creates direct-response campaigns, and collateral communications materials that get attention, tell powerful stories and persuade people to take action or make a donation.
