Copywriting

For some time now, I’ve been saying fundraising has changed more in the past five to 10 years than in the previous 50. It’s due to the digital revolution that fundamentally has changed business as usual—for everyone. Change is inevitable, yet change is hard. And nonprofits seem to have a more difficult time embracing change than their for-profit counterparts. Perhaps it’s due to the way social-benefit organizations are structured.

I have a favorite charity that regularly demands I buy from it, but rarely asks that I support it. Since September, I have received 23 emails from this organization. Eight of those emails had the word "buy" or a cash prize for something in the subject line...

I must confess that I’m the kind of gal who wraps my gifts in newspaper because "it’s what’s inside that matters" and why waste resources? And too often I applied this same misguided philosophy to sending out fundraising emails. I just didn’t spend much time on the subject line. I didn’t spend much time tracking open rates either...

If the idea of doing any type of cleaning makes you want to scream, just think of how much better you feel when it’s done. Your house sparkles, and it can be cathartic to get rid of old clothes and shred paperwork you’ve had since the Clinton administration...

Effective media relations isn’t always about proactively pitching your organization’s story to reporters and editors. It’s also about making sure you are curating the right information in the places where reporters hang out to gather information. Recently, we explored why it’s important to create a reporter-friendly online newsroom on your organization’s website to help ensure that…

Ah, April—flowers blooming, birds chirping, and mailboxes and inboxes overflowing. But wait, there’s something new—the seasonal arrival of requests to fund a school event, mission trip, service project or a similar extracurricular activity for a Gen Y or Gen Z overachiever...

You might find it a bit odd that the CEO of a fundraising technology company might be writing about old-fashioned methods of personalizing communications. I recently had an in-depth discussion with a prospective customer regarding the extent of bulk personalization that is attainable via mail merges, through the hundreds of fields of standard and custom…

The media landscape is evolving. The way consumers absorb news is much different today than it was even five years ago. We’re now living in an era of instant information; the days of the daily news cycle are fading, if not already behind us. Just look at the people in any public space—chances are that…

How can a small, local nonprofit simultaneously spread the word about its organization—and ultimately get more donors—with minimal impact on the budget? Tap local pools of talent. With a small staff, it's likely you have neither the time nor all of the expertise needed to accomplish your marketing, fundraising and awareness campaigns. As you tap…

Even as nonprofits work like crazy to have a strong online presence for both younger and older donors, they also send out a heap of direct-mail fundraising letters with numerous printed pieces in each package. They also often print newsletters and annual reports. In short, there is no lack of stuff in print. But are…