Membership

By now, you know the tremendous power monthly donors have. You know how it can help improve your donor retention to much higher levels. We typically see monthly donor retention rates between 87 percent and 95 percent—that’s double that of one-time donors...

We are big on not attending the same professional conferences year after year. Take a break from your routine and attend a new conference—maybe one outside of your nonprofit sector. This year, I’m taking a break from AFP to attend a different conference and I plan to be back at AFP next year...

We are big on not attending the same professional conferences year after year. Take a break from your routine and attend a new conference—maybe one outside of your nonprofit sector. This year, I’m taking a break from AFP to attend a different conference and I plan to be back at AFP next year. Recently, I […]

A new museum uses direct mail to inspire patriotism in the hearts and minds of donors.

Art serves many purposes, as this direct mail membership campaign shows.

The David Horowitz Freedom Center, a controversial California-based nonprofit that sponsors virulently anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant campaigns in the U.S., has quietly played a prominent role in financing Dutch far-right nationalist Geert Wilders’s People’s Party for Freedom (PVV). The PVV’s platform calls for an end to Muslim immigration and the closing down of mosques and Islamic…

Running a true raffle though is legally quite complicated. Registrations for charitable gaming licenses are cumbersome, time consuming and potentially more costly than the money you could raise. Instead, we operate these types of promotions under sweepstakes laws. But what are the keys to success? How can you use sweepstakes to attract new members and engage your donor base? Here’s what we’ve discovered...

“A challenge has been made.” Those are the big, bold words written across the front of this Barnes Foundation upgrade appeal’s oversized envelope, practically daring donors to open the package. The mailing—inviting the foundation’s closest and most dedicated supporters to advance their memberships to a higher level—was designed inside and out to make recipients feel special...

When Congress passed legislation in December 2014 to establish a congressional commission to study the feasibility of and recommend a site for the National Women’s History Museum, there was a catch. The commission and museum would both need to be financed with private money. No Washington, D.C, 
museum had ever been asked to underwrite its own congressional commission...

Ever since it was launched from the temple-like headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington in 1888, National Geographic magazine has illuminated the world’s hidden places and revealed its natural wonders. On Wednesday, the iconic ­yellow-bordered magazine, beset by financial issues, entered its own uncharted territory. In an effort to stave off further decline,…