Creative

Perhaps the single biggest waste of time and money in fundraising is the general brochure. That's because of what it usually sets out to do: It explains "what we do." It shows how superior our processes are. It brags about how long we've been around, what awards we've won and how famous our CEO/founder is.

I've noticed that many general brochures focus in on what we don't do — as if that could possibly be of any interest to donors.

A great way to connect new donors with your nonprofit is through content marketing. By sharing the knowledge of what you do, you can give people an “in” to your organization and cause. Here are seven easy and actionable tips for increasing the effectiveness of your nonprofit organization’s content-marketing efforts: Do keyword research, monitor audience response, SEO-optimize your posts, put your audience in the headline, post with regularity, always include an image and encourage social sharing.

Donors rarely read. First they glance. Then they scan. If you want them to read, you need to give them a hand.

Campaigns and actions are won by a mixture of ingredients: a creative team, an awesome strategy, an effective online presence, a strong group of supporters and a winning story. The last point is highly subjective because there are many ways and forms we can tell a story.

Besides the obvious, how else do we tell great stories? In the first installment of Mob Lab’s peer learning sessions for this year, Sarah Hipsley, Greenpeace Australia-Pacific’s graphic designer, shared how maps can be as powerful as photos and videos in telling stories.

Too often, feeling bored about telling the same fundraising story over and over is a result of our own lack of time spent considering how to turn usual to unusual. We need to challenge ourselves to try a new approach or look at a problem from a fresh angle. We may end up discarding what we come up with after exploring it a while, but simply trying to find a new approach can lead to new thinking that eventually does unleash a new approach to telling our story.

Excerpted from his new book, "The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand: Motivating Donors to Give, Give Happily, and Keep on Giving," Jeff Brooks shares four ways to improve your fundraising ask: 1. Have credentials to show donors. 2. Let donors speak for you. 3. Be open about your fundraising and governance. 4. Ignore your lawyers.

When it comes to direct-mail and email copy intended to raise money for a nonprofit, adding a camel to the fundraising team is dangerous. In other words, the more people who edit the copy, the less likely it is that the end product will accomplish the original intent. There are three “camels” fundraisers should avoid when possible — and when that’s impossible, at a minimum go on record as being opposed to.

Successful donor newsletters include offers in every issue for three reasons: Offers help strengthen your bond with that fraction of donors (10 percent to 30 percent, maybe more?) who are "truly true believers" and might want to become more involved. Offers create a feedback channel so donors can tell you how much they like you. Offers can seriously boost philanthropic revenue. Not every donor supports you just once annually. Some will make multiple gifts a year, but you have to ask, in your newsletter.

It’s no secret that nonprofit marketing trends have shifted within the past few years. Technology has advanced, online fundraising has grown and the way donors like to interact with nonprofits has evolved. As these changes occur, it’s become increasingly important for organizations to be mindful of how supporters want to be engaged. With that said, here’s a roundup of three major nonprofit marketing trends that any savvy organization should keep an eye on: content, mobile and personalization.

There is a proven approach to stopping the fatal donor attrition rates — placing hyperfocus on relationships with existing donors to keep them close. That’s mammoth potential, and your donor newsletter is a vital tool for bringing it to life. Here’s how to put your newsletter into play: 1. Share, don't ask. 2. Connect your content and your people. 3. Keep it all about donors — with an imaginary editorial board. 4. Make it easy to recognize and remember.