Category Archives: donor psychology
Get fundraising emails opened
With all the articles and blog posts on email fundraising, it’s easy to get the impression that the subject line reigns supreme in the ongoing battle to get fundraising emails opened. It’s not that the subject line doesn’t matter – … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged advertising, copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Leave a comment
Another reason to send thank you letters to your donors
When it comes to thanking donors, this is a horror story: A donor writes a check for $50,000, sends it in to the charity, and waits and waits for days and then finally calls the charity to make sure it … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged charity, copywriting, donors, fundraising
Leave a comment
When to use a plain envelope in fundraising
In Gulliver’s Travels, our intrepid explorer finds himself in Lilliput, where two factions of Lilliputians are in dispute. On one side are the Big-Endians, who break their boiled eggs at the big end, while on the other side are the … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged advertising, copywriting, fundraising, marketing, nonprofit
Leave a comment
What’s an offer in fundraising?
The offer is one of the most underutilized aspects of fundraising. Is that because of how we tend to think about it? One definition of the fundraising offer is that it’s what the donor’s gift will accomplish. That’s true – … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged copywriting, fundraising, marketing, nonprofit
Leave a comment
Is this the end for digital fundraising?
Yes, yes, we all know: the future of fundraising is digital, and direct mail is dead. So it’s all sunshine and rainbows on the digital fundraising side, then – right? Uh, not exactly. According to A love letter to digital … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged copywriting, fundraising, Online fundraising
Leave a comment
What is it about direct mail for fundraising?
Mail is still the most productive channel for fundraising. More than email, internet, phone, social media, or any other medium you can dream up. Why? Jerry Huntsinger in his Eighty-Six Tutorials on Creating Fundraising Letters and Packages explains it perfectly: … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged behavior, copywriting, fundraising
Leave a comment
You have to move donors to get them to give
Connecting with donors, listening to donors, donor love, donor centrism, making the donor feel like a hero – these are all fine and useful concepts. They show how to think about fundraising. But we can’t escape the fact that at … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged copywriting, fundraising
Leave a comment
The easy way to boost fundraising response
It’s probably something you don’t give much attention to when you’re creating a fundraising appeal. Most of us don’t, I’d bet. That’s because it’s so simple that it gets overlooked. It’s this: making the date of the appeal a prominent … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged behavior, copywriting, fundraising
Leave a comment
Is this the exception to the ‘no statistics in fundraising appeals’ rule?
Tell an emotional story about one person. That’s the guideline for creating donor-focused fundraising that connects with donors and motivates them to give. An example from Claire Axelrad at Clarification blog drives this point home. One headline says “24,000 children … Continue reading
Posted in copywriting, donor psychology, fundraising
Tagged copywriting, fundraising
Leave a comment
The best reason to ask your donors more often to give
Lots of charities are shy about asking for donations. They don’t want to mail or email too often out of fear of seeming too pushy. And even in their appeals themselves, it seems like they’re trying to work up the … Continue reading
Posted in donor psychology, fundraising, nonprofit
Tagged behavior, fundraising, nonprofit
Leave a comment
Fundraising Copywriter George Crankovic 