Extreme, apocalyptic rhetoric gets attention. But is it good fundraising? The definitive answer is … not usually.
Like everything else in life there are only two attributes that all successful writers share: 1) a little talent and 2) a lot of hard work. And the talent is really just a bonus.
Recipients (clearly unenlightened!) call it "junk mail." Some nonprofit leaders claim it's dead and we should just play taps and get on with it. Others figure it's worth using as long as we can keep it "dirt cheap."
The final months of the year are going to be big months for nonprofits; that’s a given. The main question is: How are you going to capitalize on the philanthropic spirit?
As much as we writers love and depend on our own rituals, we love reading about those of other writers even more.
Sharing success is important, but make sure it is a shared success because of you and the donor. Otherwise you may only be talking to yourself as your donors move on to where they feel part of the solution.
Communications and development can, and should be, the soup and sandwich of fundraising.
With appreciation to Jerold Panas (FundRaising Success' 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner), who stimulated this article with a short piece he published several months ago comparing fundraising to white-water rafting, here are some tips from a hiker to energize your work as a fundraiser this fall.
Ah, I could talk about direct mail forever ... but I'll stop here! All this old dog asks is that all you skeptics out there take a few minutes to consider (or re-consider) direct mail — an old-fashioned fundraising tool that can breathe new life into your year-end fundraising.
Integrated marketing communications is like the theory of evolution in marketing — only the strongest, agile and most efficient media and tools survive.
