Project HOPE is breaking down the walls between countries. Rich Rumsey, VP of development and communication at the organization, is breaking down the walls between departments.
This old dog knows that there is much we can't control as fundraisers — but having "Plan B" in place can save the day, or at least make it less devastating for our fundraising.
In communicating with your donors, whether it be a website or mailing — electronic or physical — focus on the relationships. Risk a little. Risk looking foolish. Make your investors smile. They'll love you for it. When you ask them to step up their support, they'll sense the human connection and respond.
Today I'm sharing with you the three most overused, most boring and least useful words ever to be used in fundraising appeals.
Success stories in fundraising focus on the positive outcome. They give you the opportunity to tell the reader how fabulous you are. It's a seductive proposition and a great way to steer your ship into the rocks.
For those of us who are tasked with providing information that encourages giving, the right story can make our jobs go from impossible to possible. So how do we get those compelling examples that help our donors and prospects grasp the importance of the work we do? Following are things that I have found can make my task as a copywriter a joy — or a job.
Here's how nonprofits should do cross-marketing without being creepy or it feeling forced … and how not to do it the way "The Bachelor" did.
Testimonials allow your reader to see your organization through the eyes of someone you've helped. It's a first-person, ground-level view of how you change lives.
For some reason, fundraisers or their bosses often put too much weight on the opinion of an audience of one. Rather than thoughtfully considering it in light of the whole picture, the response is too often wholesale change.
Communications best practices merge the "fundraising" function and the "marketing/communications" function. So if you want to be successful at fundraising, you have to master some marketing skills and become a master at "fund marketing."
