Target

All donors are not created equal. As in the for-profit world, the most financially valuable ones are the ones who undertake long-term relationships with an organization — those who embrace a nonprofit’s mission and make donations again and again. In a perfect world, fundraisers would be able to discern these individuals from the 70 percent of newly acquired donors whose first gifts are also their last, and invest in them accordingly.

Nonprofits interested in beefing up their planned-giving base should reach out to potential donors in their 40s, according to a recently released study dubbed “Discovering the Secret Giver.” Conducted for The Stelter Company, a Des Moines, Iowa-based fundraising consultancy, the study examined how and why people age 40 and up make bequests to nonprofit groups. These “secret givers” aren’t generally on fundraisers’ radars, the report found. Bev Hutney, creative director at Stelter, says the study shows that nonprofits should be reaching out to people in their 40s, which is at least 10 years earlier than the timing that is widely accepted as ideal in

[Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Aug. 22 issue of “All About eMail,” the new, free, weekly e-letter from the Target Marketing Group. To subscribe, click here.] HTML e-mail designers face a number of challenges when it comes to renderability across multiple e-mail programs. But there are a number of tips you can follow to avoid rendering issues in the major e-mail programs. In Part 2 of this two-part series, we explain how designing for the preview pane and testing e-mail messages can avoid rendering issues in e-mail programs. (To view Part 1, in which Matt and Brent discuss how

Even in a “healthy” fundraising program, only 30 percent of newly acquired donors give again after their original gift! What can you do to keep more of your new donors interested in your cause and eager to support you again and again? You have a critical window of opportunity to motivate donors to give a second gift — usually within three months of their first gifts. As more time passes, it’s less and less likely that new donors will give again. But if they do, they’re much more likely to turn into generous, loyal supporters. Here are five essential things you must do

Organizations never want to say goodbye to a donor. And they don’t have to, says Nicole Titus, director of client services for the Washington, D.C.-based fundraising and communications agency OMP Direct. During the session “Baby Come Back! Wooing Lapsed Donors” at the 2008 New York Nonprofit Conference last month, Titus said wooing back donors comes down to four things: strategy, message, channel and technique. Strategy is based on what you know about your lapsed donors. * What has the biggest impact on your donor’s long-term value? Is it channel, gift or something else? “Target your most valuable donors first,” Titus said. *

PACKAGE OF THE YEAR Gold: Habitat for Humanity International Special Development Appeal (Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co.) Silver: Rhode Island Community Food Bank Annual Review Brochure (DaVinci Direct) Bronze (Tie): Tuskegee Airmen — Charles McGee Campaign (Fundraising Strategies) CARE November/December World Report (Merkle) ACQUISITION (50,000 OR MORE MAILED) Gold: Utah Food Bank 2007 Thanksgiving Donor Acquisition (L.W. Robbins) Silver: Wildlife Conservation Spring 2007 Acquisition (Schultz & Williams) Bronze: Mail Call Hurts (Gum Version) (Fundraising Strategies) ACQUISITION (FEWER THAN 50,000 MAILED) Gold: Tuskegee Airmen — Charles McGee (Fundraising Strategies) Silver: Bidawee “Welcome” (SCA DIrect) Bronze: Adaptive Clothing Gift Tag Package (Fundraising Strategies) RENEWAL (50,000

[Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the debut issue of “All About E-Mail,” the new, free, weekly e-letter from the Target Marketing Group. To subscribe, click here. Look for Part 2 of this two-part series in the Sept. 10 edition of Giving 2.0, when the authors will explain the importance of designing for preview panes and testing your e-mail messages before they are deployed.] HTML e-mail designers face a number of challenges when it comes to renderability across multiple e-mail programs. The lack of standards creates an environment where each ISP has its own rules. This means the same HTML code is assembled

A Walk Down The Aisle: Target 136,214 couples of all ages and backgrounds who recently have gotten married. Price: $80/M. Call: ListSolutions, 866.516.8794; e-mail info@listsolutions.com; or visit www.listsolutions.com American Mail Responders — Children’s Books Reading: Target more than 12.5 million consumers who enjoy reading children’s books. Price: $95/M. Call: Paramount Lists, 800.723.5478; or visit www.paramountlists.com America’s Voice — Children’s Advocate Donors: Target 536,792 child-welfare donors who place great importance on issues that affect our nation’s children. Price: $85/M. Call: Political Fundraising Lists, 866.314.5478; or visit www.pfl-llc.net Avenue W — Degrees Online For Women: Target more than 1 million women who want to receive an

Back in the ’90s, when I was editor of [FundRaising Success sister publication] Target Marketing, this strange thing called the Internet turned up on my radar screen. I did not understand it. In fact, nobody understood it. For one thing, with the dial-up modem, downloading was s-l-o-w. Investors fell in love with it and pumped billions of dollars into startup companies that promised to capture millions of “eyeballs,” and a large percentage of those eyeballs would turn into paying customers or cause advertisers to spend money. “The only bank that takes eyeballs,” Bill Bonner, brilliant founder and proprietor of the sprawling Agora Publishing empire,

Following is a sampling of new-to-the-market and newly managed lists.