Earlier this month, many of us experienced what felt like a miracle—the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Even if you are not a baseball fan, or if you supported the Cleveland Indians (the Cubs’ very worthy opponent), there are some great takeaways for fundraisers from the season that ended a 108-year stretch of losing...
A forthcoming study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, based on the psychology of sympathy, shows that small changes in the wording of a fundraising letter can increase donations by more than 300 percent. With more than a million registered public charities in the U.S., fundraising for good causes has become more difficult than ever.…
Our challenge as fundraisers is how to write to the donor in the donor’s language. Simple enough, until you are faced with someone who doesn’t accept the challenge. So we have to battle against the editor or copy approver who forgets that fundraising takes head and heart. When you find yourself in this battle, here are a few strategies I use as needed...
I recently came across the late Elmore Leonard's "10 Rules of Writing." Leonard was a novelist, most famously of crime fiction. But his rules apply surprisingly well to fundraising writing. Here are the first five, along with my annotations for fundraisers: Never open a book with weather. (Probably not a good idea for a fundraising…
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Committee writing is a terrible thing: lifeless, drab, confusing, unmotivating. One place most often afflicted by committee writing: taglines. They're small and short—and a lot of people in the organization care about them. Every cook crowds into the kitchen, and the result is predictable: stew. And not the good kind. And committee-style stew-writing is so…
Conversations with a few clients have led me to believe that if you ask 10 different development professionals what makes a good appeal letter, you will get 10 different answers. What really makes a good appeal, though, is its ability to connect people to how they can make an impact in an area they care deeply about. Here's how you can write one that does just that...
Have you been to a party and got stuck in a conversation with someone who talked too much about him or herself, or bragged about all the wonderful things he or she has done? You roll your eyes in frustration and plan your escape to the drinks table. Imagine your donors having the same reaction…
Companies and nonprofits that manage employee giving and volunteering programs are quite adept at the processes and practices that keep these programs humming. Yet they often struggle to find and tell stories that show how the generosity of employees is making a difference. Effective storytelling is a key ingredient of your marketing and communications efforts.…
I recently had the pleasure of working with a homeless services nonprofit (not named to protect the innocent). Its challenge was engaging donors beyond the first gift—and its donor retention rates were in the basement. During our first meeting, I asked: "Tell me what you do and why your organization matters?" The director of communications looked…
