Creative

Make sure your emails are counted among those few that survive the first and drastic purge of the day. Surprise me, involve me in a way that makes sense — and watch me grow into a donor who sticks with you. After all, retention is not a statistic, it's a relationship.

Here are 17 ways to help others judge a fundraising letter.

When you roadblock a new avenue of discussion, just make sure you're doing it because it's a dumb idea, not because trying it would be too hard.

Most readers are willing to grant you a certain amount of verisimilitude, but you’ve got to meet them halfway. Here are six ways to give your readers a helpful hand.

The fact that some writers use clickbait for devious purposes doesn't make the technique itself bad, any more than a pickpocket makes fingers bad.

A great fundraising appeal or email can have many different variables. But a clear call to action must be a constant. So whatever else you play around with in a package, keep your call to action highly visible and to the point.

A writer who works well with you is not by chance; it's the result of open dialogue and some give and take on both sides.

You can learn, and glean some great ideas, from what your colleagues are testing, but you can’t assume that what worked for them will work for you.

Storytelling is much more scientific than you think.

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Fundraising Day in New York last Friday, three fundraising professionals, along with moderator Amy Tripi, president of Tripi Consulting, shared 30 ideas to enhance fundraising direct-response creative. Here are ideas 21-30.