According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) 2009 State of Fundraising Survey, only “43 percent of charities raised more money in 2009 than in 2008, marking it the worst year for charitable fundraising in a decade.” The survey states that declines were consistent regardless of cause. However, several of the food banks that I [...]

Halloween was this past weekend and we turned deep into the dark side.  Goulies and ghosties walked the streets in my neighborhood. So let’s turn to the dark side of your year-end fundraising campaign – and shine a light on mistakes many organizations make. Here’s my Top 10 list of ways to sabotage your year-end [...]

Fundraising letters communicate a specific message to potential donors and call them to action. Creating an attention getting opening paragraph is important in making a good first impression and in getting the rest of the letter read. Here are 5 Attention Getting Strategies for Fundraising Letters [...]

Following up on Lori Rice’s article, Customize Communications to Increase Donor Loyalty, I’d like to explore three practical ways that you can personalize your fundraising letters. In other words, the logistics of how to get away from “Dear Friend” and other impersonal elements that take away from the power of direct mail. Steve Maggio of [...]

Maintaining a sufficient amount of donors is vital for a charity organization. Whether it is those who donate separate of an event or those who return year after year to your race, keeping them is a priority. We want to gain new supporters and initiate more funds, but if we let our veteran supporters slip [...]

You may have heard of the three R’s of education – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Today we’ll look at what I call the “Three R’s” of Fundraising Letters and hear from one non profit who implements all three of these ideas. […]

When I ran the Southern Utah Alzheimer’s Association, I always made a point to send a thank you note within a few days of receiving a donation; admittedly, though, I used a form letter in my word processing program that I would adapt to each individual donor.  According to an article at fundraisingIP.com, although it [...]