Nonprofit organizations are spending more money in digital than ever before, whether to raise money from individual donors, recruit special event participants, increase brand awareness or support mission programs and services...
Greg Fox
By most standards, 2017 wasn’t a typical year. It was a carryover of perhaps the most memorable and emotionally charged presidential election ever: 2017 wasn’t one isolated event, but rather 12 months of extreme and prolonged emotion; the kind of raw emotion that some believe could influence long-term individual behavior and priorities...
In an industry where 75 percent of revenue comes from individuals, it’s only logical that we should be putting people first in our marketing efforts. It’s time that fundraisers learn how to become great at people-based marketing. Sounds reasonable, right? So why aren’t more of us doing it?...
Earlier this year, the Indiana School of Philanthropy predicted charitable giving would rise 3.6 percent in 2017. Based on the volume of individual contributions received during the first half of the year, it appears as if the industry is on pace to meet those projections...
The nonprofit industry is becoming more diversified and complex and as donor behaviors continue to evolve, it is imperative that direct-response fundraisers adopt new methods and/or solutions for quantifying the impact of their marketing investments. The days are gone when fundraisers could measure a campaign’s effectiveness or performance in a single media/channel view...
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In a previous blog post, I briefly examined what appears to be a growing sentiment in the nonprofit industry that direct mail fundraising is somehow flawed. Fundraisers have been slow to abandon outdated business practices or to evolve quick enough to react to the mounting challenges facing nonprofits today—and yes, there are many that we must overcome...
In Roger Craver’s recent blog post, he challenged the nonprofit industry to “rev up the discussion” around what he calls the clichéd dictum of “mail more, raise more.” He goes so far as to suggest that most direct response fundraisers are buying into the myth that the only way to effectively increase revenue is to mail more...
As I have for four consecutive years, I’m starting 2017 off with a report on last year’s charitable giving volume. The analysis is based on 17 million individual direct mail contributions received in 2016 by more than 60 national nonprofit organizations. It encompasses six primary charitable sectors served by Merkle’s Response Management Group...
Curiosity has arguably been the catalyst for virtually every significant discovery and innovation known to man. Curiosity led one man to a new world. It was the motivation behind another man’s decision to fly a kite during an electrical storm. And it was a curiosity for typefaces that resulted in one of the most innovative…
Judging by the volume of charitable contributions processed over the first six months of 2016, it appears to be another up-and-down year for America’s nonprofit organizations. A more in-depth analysis into the data revealed some consistent and concerning trends that impacted the first half of 2016 and that likely may carry over into the second half of the year...
Three in every $4 are donated by individuals, according to Giving USA 2015: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2014. Given this statistic, it’s imperative that, as fundraisers, we master the principles of people-based marketing. The principles are based on the evolution of a single idea: By understanding the unique characteristics of a donor, we can build highly customized experiences that will drive increased giving, improved retention and enhanced donor satisfaction...
People are far more distracted than they were a decade ago, which means that even the most experienced fundraiser must continually evolve—something the industry has found difficult at times—and leverage new outlets to increase donations. Is it possible that our inability to adapt or unwillingness to change is a primary reason for our industry’s declining performance?...
With the presidential election fewer than eight months away, fundraisers, once again, are faced with the uncertainty of whether political giving this year will impact contributions to their respective organizations. It’s only natural for nonprofit executives and fundraisers to be nervous about how the 2016 presidential campaign will impact contributions to their organizations...
Last year was big across the fundraising landscape. While the industry continues to struggle with reduced performance (efficiency) of direct mail, leading groups were tackling the hard questions. By now, the book on 2015 should be closed for most organizations, and it won’t be long before we get the scorecard on our industry’s performance last year. In the meantime, I’ve highlighted some important observations on charitable giving in 2015 and their impact on 2016...
A recent survey shows retention has increased over the past few years. But many fundraising professionals view the report differently. They use it to reinforce their opinions that the industry has a retention problem. Yes, it continues to be a huge issue, but I’m not convinced the problem is any more significant than it always has been...
