Despite what many people think, simple repetition is one of the most powerful tools in your creative arsenal. The savviest fundraisers use it all the time to ratchet up emotion — and results — from their donors.
As FundRaising Success gears up for the ninth annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, take a look back at last year's Campaign of the Year from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).
As FundRaising Success gears up for the ninth annual Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence, take a look back last year's Grand Control of the Year from Union of Concerned Scientists.
Donors rarely read. First they glance. Then they scan. If you want them to read, you need to give them a hand.
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.
Have you tried to break down silos in favor of a cultural organizational change that emphasizes the whole and not the parts? To help you do this, consider employing the following steps.
As someone who works in the marketing intelligence world for nonprofits, I continue to be surprised how many organizations don't use the important channel of telemarketing or — even worse — have used it before and stopped using it.
Here are five direct-mail packages that have a history of success across a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Adapting them to your mission and message can help reduce the some of the risk that goes along with testing.
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.
Nonprofits know they must emotionally connect with their constituents. Now, for-profit brands are focusing on emotional marketing, or as Fast Company calls it, "sadvertising."
