The Don’t Ask — Tell! Approach to Fundraising

You’ve probably heard -- ad nauseum -- about the importance of mailings that directly generate income. However, what many people aren’t spending enough time discussing are mailings that I’ll simply refer to as “informational” (versus transactional).

Examples of these types of mailings include newsletters or magazines that are sent to a certain category of donors or members. How important are they? I can recall one year in which an organization failed to send anything to its members, resulting in a 25 percent decline in its renewal rate. This is a good example of what can happen if members are not kept informed of what’s going on with your nonprofit - and, more specifically, what’s being accomplished with their donations.